Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Honorifics

Man, the things one learns from BoingBoing!

United Airlines' Mileage Plus signup form has the following choices for "Title":

Mr Ms Mrs Miss Dr 1sgt 1st Lt 2nd Lt Adm Baron Baroness Bishop Brig Gen Brother Cantor Capt Cardinal Cmdr Cmst Col Count Countess Cpl Cpo Dean Duchess Duke Elder Ens Father Fleet Adm General Governor Gysgt Hon Imam Judge Lady Lcpl Lord Lt Lt Cmdr Lt Col Lt Gen Lt Jg Ma Major Major Gen Mcpo Mgysgt Minister Monsignor Most Rev Mother Msgt Mstr Pastor Petty Off Pfc Po1 Po2 Po3 President Prince Prof Pvt Rabbi Rear Adm Rev Right Rev Scpo Senator Sfc Sgt Sgtmaj Sir Sister Smn Smn1 Smst Sp4 Sp5 Sp6 Sr Sra Srta Ssgt Swami Tech Sgt Very Rev Vice Adm

Not to be outdone, British Airways does 'em a few better:

Mr Mrs Ms Miss Dr Herr Monsieur Hr Frau A V M Admiraal Admiral Air Cdre Air Commodore Air Marshal Air Vice Marshal Alderman Alhaji Ambassador Baron Barones Brig Brig Gen Brig General Brigadier Brigadier General Brother Canon Capt Captain Cardinal Cdr Chief Cik Cmdr Col Col Dr Colonel Commandant Commander Commissioner Commodore Comte Comtessa Congressman Conseiller Consul Conte Contessa Corporal Councillor Count Countess Crown Prince Crown Princess Dame Datin Dato Datuk Datuk Seri Deacon Deaconess Dean Dhr Dipl Ing Doctor Dott Dott sa Dr Dr Ing Dra Drs Embajador Embajadora En Encik Eng Eur Ing Exma Sra Exmo Sr F O Father First Lieutient First Officer Flt Lieut Flying Officer Fr Frau Fraulein Fru Gen Generaal General Governor Graaf Gravin Group Captain Grp Capt H E Dr H H H M H R H Hajah Haji Hajim Her Highness Her Majesty Herr High Chief His Highness His Holiness His Majesty Hon Hr Hra Ing Ir Jonkheer Judge Justice Khun Ying Kolonel Lady Lcda Lic Lieut Lieut Cdr Lieut Col Lieut Gen Lord M M L M R Madame Mademoiselle Maj Gen Major Master Mevrouw Miss Mlle Mme Monsieur Monsignor Mr Mrs Ms Mstr Nti Pastor President Prince Princess Princesse Prinses Prof Prof Dr Prof Sir Professor Puan Puan Sri Rabbi Rear Admiral Rev Rev Canon Rev Dr Rev Mother Reverend Rva Senator Sergeant Sheikh Sheikha Sig Sig na Sig ra Sir Sister Sqn Ldr Sr Sr D Sra Srta Sultan Tan Sri Tan Sri Dato Tengku Teuku Than Puying The Hon Dr The Hon Justice The Hon Miss The Hon Mr The Hon Mrs The Hon Ms The Hon Sir The Very Rev Toh Puan Tun Vice Admiral Viscount Viscountess Wg Cdr

With all that, it was pointed out that "in German, someone with multiple PhDs goes by Doktor Doktor Doktor (und zo weiter), abbreviated DDDDr -- how does BA expect to attract hyper-educated Germanic people without this honorific in its otherwise exhaustive list?" Very good question...

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