Use of BSc, BA, etc

Dr House · 2 Jul 2007 at 16:21

There is a kid in the year above me who just graduated a couple of months ago. He uses every opportunity to sign his name as Dr XXXX. He has no idea that everyone thinks he is an absolute tool

meghatronic · 2 Jul 2007 at 16:24

Paras said:
There is a kid in the year above me who just graduated a couple of months ago. He uses every opportunity to sign his name as Dr XXXX. He has no idea that everyone thinks he is an absolute tool

Why is he a tool for a Docterate?

dirtydog · 2 Jul 2007 at 16:27

Chrisss said:
No it doesn't...

Do you mean no it can't?

dirtydog · 2 Jul 2007 at 16:29

Rich_L said:
I suspect that is more a reflection that the value you place on perfect spelling and grammar is abnormally high compared to the general populace, educated, intelligent or otherwise.

In my experience of people in your classic 'professional' environments (lawyers, accountants, bankers and suchlike) conveying a message in a concise and understandable manner is far more important than ensuring that spelling and grammar are perfect - any document which needs polishing will be double and triple-checked by several people anyway to amend any minor errors. And that's not even going into the professions which involve high levels of mathematical ability and programming disciplines where perfect spelling & grammar has even less relevance.

There's a difference between getting something 'perfect', and making tons of primary school errors on a regular basis. If you do the latter then it can be reasonably assumed that your English is poor.

Chrisss · 2 Jul 2007 at 16:43

dirtydog said:
Do you mean no it can't?

Whatever - the point is that spelling and grammar on an internet forum counts for nothing as long as people understand what you're trying to say.

Rebelius · 2 Jul 2007 at 16:47

I knew someone who was Dr. XYZ CBE DSc MRIA FIBiol. Bit of a mouthful if you use it every day!

dirtydog · 2 Jul 2007 at 16:51

Chrisss said:
Whatever - the point is that spelling and grammar on an internet forum counts for nothing as long as people understand what you're trying to say.

Many would disagree with that.

NathanE · 2 Jul 2007 at 16:52

I use them on my standard Outlook e-mail signature.

As far as I'm concerned those 3 letters cost me about £20,000 so I may as well use them.

I wonder if the people sprouting words like "pretentious" or laughing at their colleagues have a degree themselves?

Snow-Munki · 2 Jul 2007 at 17:03

Only on my CV.

Acutally where i work not allowed to put them on business cards as some of the directors / partners of the company don't have a degree, and would make them look bad

Snow-Munki Bsc (Hons)

--ki-- · 2 Jul 2007 at 17:10

I fail to see how some find it stupid or think others are 'tools', simple because they sign their sigs with they qualifications, perhaps they are proud of them, wouldn't you show of something you have achieved that your proud of?

As for those making fun of people who sign with Dr So-and-So, you do realise thats their actual name now, it replaces the Mr, Mrs, Ms....etc as their new salutation, and you can be damn sure they worked hard for it, far more so that a regular degree.

With regards to the comments on spelling and grammar, I'm sorry but come on, only the most anal of person really cares about if someone spelled a word correctly or put a punctuation in the right place. Those who fail to do so as Fox said are generally lazy or TBH dont really care, if you base your respect for what someone says on their written english, then this really is a sorry state, as TBH the person communicating to you even if in poor grammar doesnt really care if you take them seriously or not, they communicated their point accross and if some anal prat wants to poke holes in their grammar instead of take not of what they have written, taking into account is very informal text that this occurs in, thats their own damn problem.

oh yeah... --Ki-- BEng (hons)

edit: and bah, I know this has grammar and spelling errors in it but I think its rather clear what I wanted to communicate.

hittman · 2 Jul 2007 at 17:14

CV and business cards is fine. Use of it in everyday context is too much.

Jokester · 2 Jul 2007 at 17:14

--ki-- said:
I fail to see how some find it stupid or think others are 'tools', simple because they sign their sigs with they qualifications, perhaps they are proud of them, wouldn't you show of something you have achieved that your proud of?

I'm totally proud of my qualifications, but I don't feel the need to put it into an email signature in an industry where pretty much everyone else has the same or equivalent qualifications.

Jokester

Moredhel · 2 Jul 2007 at 17:16

I think it's different for someone with a doctorate to put themselves down as Dr. Whatever in general use (where titles are appropriate), however I'd not use all the associated suffixes except on formal things like a CV.

Moredhel - 133t, omg, wtf, bbq (edit, damn that joke was done on the first page)

dirtydog · 2 Jul 2007 at 17:16

--ki-- said:
With regards to the comments on spelling and grammar, I'm sorry but come on, only the most anal of person really cares about if someone spelled a word correctly or put a punctuation in the right place. Those who fail to do so as Fox said are generally lazy or TBH dont really care, if you base your respect for what someone says on their written english, then this really is a sorry state, as TBH the person communicating to you even if in poor grammar doesnt really care if you take them seriously or not, they communicated their point accross and if some anal prat wants to poke holes in their grammar instead of take not of what they have written, taking into account is very informal text that this occurs in, thats their own damn problem.

There's a recent thread on that subject here... knock yourself out.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17747771

Duff-Man · 2 Jul 2007 at 17:17

NathanE said:
I wonder if the people sprouting words like "pretentious" or laughing at their colleagues have a degree themselves?

Yes. A masters as well. And I still think it's incredibly pretentious.

azteched · 2 Jul 2007 at 17:24

Depends on the situation. I just obtained an MSci, but would never use in writing except on the CV, applications, etc.
"Dr." is a different matter, if it's some sort of professional/formal communication, I'd expect it to be used.
In any case, if it's someone you know reasonably well, then adding extraneous crap apart from your first name seems pretentious/stuffy.

Arcade Fire · 2 Jul 2007 at 17:29

azteched · 2 Jul 2007 at 17:32

And what you want to work as..

techy6 · 2 Jul 2007 at 17:32

I never use mine (BSc and MSc), even in professional correspondence, it always seems unnecessary. My colleagues are the same.

the-void · 2 Jul 2007 at 17:47

In my opinion putting BSc, BA after your name except on a CV would be the equivalent of putting your IQ after your name. Nobody is going to be impressed and you just end up looking like a prat.

It's as bad as MENSA members telling you they are in MENSA.