Addressing others

laissez-faire

laissez-faire

laissez-faire

Soldato
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I was always under the impression that when addressing another person it is polite to put the title 'Mr' before the surname, i.e. 'Good morning Mr. Smith'.

The thing that confuses me is the number of people (who all seem to be rather naff) who say 'Hello, my name is Mr. Smith'

Surely he should simply say 'Hello, my name is Smith', or, if he wishes to be addressed by his first name, 'Hello, my name is Bob Smith'

I thought that the only people who have the right to call themselves 'Mr. Smith' would be professionals who have earnt that title, e.g. Surgeons.

An example, it is polite to address gentlemen with whom you are unfamiliar as 'Sir', but unless you are a Baronet or a Knight etc it is terribly incorrect to refer to oneself as 'Sir'.

Opinions?
 
laissez-faire said:
I thought that the only people who have the right to call themselves 'Mr. Smith' would be professionals who have earnt that title, e.g. Surgeons.
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Surgeons would be at least Dr. Smith. :)
 
scorza said:
Surgeons would be at least Dr. Smith. :)
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Surgeons aren't called Dr. Smith unless they have a doctorate, unlike doctors. It's to do with the fact that when doctors were becoming respected, surgeons were still barber-surgeons etc.
 
Interesting. Maybe then not even consultant surgeons may refer to themselves as 'Mr' since if it is not a title earnt then they are by default of the untitled classes.
 
I'll make the obligatory Bill and Ted reference:

"Hi, Im Bill S. Preston Esq."

tbh though, I dont think the majority of people will have given the matter much thought.

I'm not an etymologist but it looks like the phrases "Sir" and "Madam" have crept into general usage in a similar way to Signore/ Signora and its variants in other Latin-derived languages, hence why it's now acceptable to call someone whose name you don't know "Sir" in letters/ spoken correspondence.
 
laissez-faire said:
The thing that confuses me is the number of people (who all seem to be rather naff) who say 'Hello, my name is Mr. Smith'

Surely he should simply say 'Hello, my name is Smith', or, if he wishes to be addressed by his first name, 'Hello, my name is Bob Smith'

I thought that the only people who have the right to call themselves 'Mr. Smith' would be professionals who have earnt that title, e.g. Surgeons.?
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'The names Bloggs, Joe Bloggs'...
 
My name is Liam Ward and there's absolutely no chance i'll ever introduce myself as Ward or Mr. Ward.

Usually i'll just tell them my first name, or possibly first and second name.
 
Whenever I phone O2, they ask for my name - so I give them me first name. They usually ask for my surname, and ask how I like to be addressed. :)

I like to be addressed to by my full first name, unless I'm complaining. :p
 
I couldn't give a rat's arse what people called me, I get called ginger pubes all the time and it doesn't bother me. More important things in the world.
 
Fubar said:
I couldn't give a rat's arse what people called me, I get called ginger pubes all the time and it doesn't bother me. More important things in the world.
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I laughed;)

I will always respect those that are unknown to me and call them Sir/Madam, if I know the person then first name terms unless it's someones parent (Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms) or a Doctor (DR). It is not just about being polite ;).

Remember the phrase "Treat others how you wish to be treated" :)
 
laissez-faire said:
Interesting. Maybe then not even consultant surgeons may refer to themselves as 'Mr' since if it is not a title earnt then they are by default of the untitled classes.
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Well you learn something new every day. According to wiki surgeons who are Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons can call themselves Mr/Miss/Mrs during the course of their professional practice. American surgeons have the title Doctor. The medical professions is weird if you ask me.
 
laissez-faire said:
I was always under the impression that when addressing another person it is polite to put the title 'Mr' before the surname, i.e. 'Good morning Mr. Smith'.

The thing that confuses me is the number of people (who all seem to be rather naff) who say 'Hello, my name is Mr. Smith'

Surely he should simply say 'Hello, my name is Smith', or, if he wishes to be addressed by his first name, 'Hello, my name is Bob Smith'

I thought that the only people who have the right to call themselves 'Mr. Smith' would be professionals who have earnt that title, e.g. Surgeons.

An example, it is polite to address gentlemen with whom you are unfamiliar as 'Sir', but unless you are a Baronet or a Knight etc it is terribly incorrect to refer to oneself as 'Sir'.

Opinions?
Click to expand...

See the Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr.

Mr. (with a period only in US/Canada, without in europe) is a social/polite title used to refer to adult men/males, boys and young men are referred to as 'Master' (Mr is an abbreviation of Mister)

You would generally never refer to yourself just with your second name, that would be rude. I.e i would never introduce myself by saying: "Hello, i'm Smith" it would be "Hello, i'm Mr Smith"
 
I would consider it perfectly normal for someone to say "I'm Mr Smith" - certainly lots of people would when making a reservation in a restaurant or something. Saying "my name's Smith" seems very strange, and some people - perhaps especially but not exclusively older people - prefer to be more formal than on first name terms with someone they don't know. It's the term used most commonly on letters and people understand it as a greeting rather than as a qualification for a senior consultant!
 
Are you still in education? I cant say ive really noticed it outside of an educational setting..

Most people use their first and last name when introducing themselves in my experience.
 
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