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Re: Honorific, degree, name and label
Hello anh Lam,
How have you been?
At 02:39 PM 4/10/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi,
>
>Are we somewhat over sensitive when addressing this issue? I mean, what's
>wrong with using one's highest degree (such as PhD, MD,DDS, PE or CPA or
>whatever) in books, publications, proposals, business cards and other
>documents. I am sure that when you submitted proposals for research funds,
>you would want to list every papers you wrote, every degrees or awards
>you have received.
I have commented on this thread quite recently that the use of
honorific and title is OK in certain circumstances, such as as those you
mentioned. However, there are circumstances, where you can clearly see that
such an use is, in fact, an abuse. Even worse, it could amount to a
show-off. I have seen at least two Vietnamese doctors using title in
correspondence to their parents!
>Recently, I came accross a book entitled "Ve~ Vang Da^n Vie^.t" . This
>is a compilation of biographies of over a hundred Vietnamese living
>overseas that have had some worthy achievements in academic, scientific
>or financial fields. Quite a few of them listed their advanced degrees
>in addition to their achievements. I read thru them and I thought it was
>all right. In fact, I thought it would be incomplete without them.
That is OK too. The domain that we discussed is not about
biographies, but about the unnecessary use of honorific and title. For
example, there is no need to show one's degrees and title when he/she posts
an article in forum such as VNSA.
From my experience, young people are loyal users of title and
degree, particularly those with PhDs. Just look at the US culture of PhD as
a appendix to their names. Many of these fellows feel that (a) they need to
tell the world that they are mature (they in fact feel threatened by their
relatively immature skills) and (b) they want to distinguish themselves from
the non-doctors (this is a show-off case).
Tuan