Tag: titles

Salutations Without Borders

I’m in the process of donating some cash to Doctors Without Borders and filling out my personal info. I have to choose a “Title”, meaning my salutation. The number of possible salutations in the drop-down menu is insane. Shall I be Mr. and Mrs. Rabbi? Sheik? Sergeant-at-Arms? Reverend Mother?

— please make a selection — Abbot Admiral Admiral & Mrs. Admiral & Mr. Admiral (Retired) Alderman Ambassador & Mrs. Ambassador & Mr. Assemblyman Assemblywoman Attorney Attorney & Mrs. Attorney & Mr. Bishop Bishop & Mrs. Board of Directors of Brigadier General Brigadier General & Mrs. Brigadier General & Mr. Brother Cantor Cantor & Mrs. Cantor & Mr. Captain Captain & Mrs. Captain & Mr. Captain (Retired) Cardinal Commander Commander & Mrs. Commander & Mr. Chaplain Chaplain & Mrs. Chaplain & Mr. Chief Colonel Colonel & Mrs. Colonel & Mr. Colonel (Retired) Committee Committee to Re-Elect Commodore Commodore & Mrs. Commodore & Mr. Congressman Congressman & Mrs. Congresswoman Congresswoman & Mr. Corporal Corporal & Mrs. Corporal & Mr. Countess Co-Workers at Co-Workers in Co-Workers of Dame Dr. and Mrs. Deacon DEACONESS Deacon & Mrs. Deacon & Mr. Dean Dean & Mrs. Dean & Mr. Director The Duke & Duchess of Dr. Dr. and Dr. Doctor & Doctor Dr. & Mrs. Doctor & Mr. Doctor & Ms. Doctor & Reverend The Duke & Duchess of Duchess Duke The Emperor & Empress of Emperor Empress Ensign Ensign & Mrs. Ensign & Mr. The Estate of Friends & Associates at Faculty at Faculty & Staff First Lieutenant Foreign Ambassador Friends & Neighbors at the Friends & Classmates Friends & Co-Workers of Fleet Admiral Fleet Admiral & Mrs. Fleet Admiral & Mr. Priest Friends at FRAU Friends in Friends of From the General General & Mrs. General & Mr. “General, Retired” Governor Governor & Mrs. Governor & Mr. The Honorable The Honorable & Mrs. The Honorable & Mr. The Honorable Judge Judge & Mrs. Judge & Mr. Justice Lady Lord Lord & Lady Lieutenant Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant Commander & Mrs. Lieutenant Colonel & Mrs. Lieutenant Colonel & Mr. Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Lieutenant General Lieutenant General & Mrs. Lieutenant & Mrs. Lieutenant & Mr. Mrs. Madam Major Major & Mrs. Major & Mr. Mr. and Mrs. Master Mayor & Mrs. Mayor & Mr. Mayor Members of Messrs. Major General Major General & Mrs. Major General & Mr. Miss Misses Mademoiselle Madame Master Sergeant Master Sergeant & Mrs. Master Sergeant & Mr. Mother Monsignor Most Reverend Mister Mr. and Dr. Mr. & Dr. Mr. & Mrs. Mr. & Mr. Mr. and Ms. Mrs. Mrs. & Mr. Mrs. & Mrs. Mrs. & Ms. Ms. Ms.’s Officers of Parents of Pastor Private First Class Petty Officer Prince and Princess President President & Mrs. President & Mr. Prince Princess Professor Professor & Mrs. Professor & Mr. Private Private & Mrs. Private & Mr. Queen Rabbi Rabbi & Mrs. Rabbi & Mr. Rear Admiral Rear Admiral & Mrs. Rear Admiral & Mr. Representative Representative & Mrs. Representative & Mr. Reverend Reverend Doctor Reverend Doctor & Mrs. Reverend Doctor and Mr. Reverend & Mrs. Reverend Mother Reverend & Mr. The Right Reverend (Episcopal Bishop) The Right Reverend & Mrs. The Right Reverend & Mr. Senator Senator & Mrs. Senator & Mr. Senora Sergeant Sergeant & Mrs. Sergeant Major Sergeant Major & Mrs. Sergeant Major & Mr. Sergeant & Mr. Sheik Sheriff Sheriff & Mrs. Sheriff & Mr. Sir Sir & Lady Sister Speaker of the House Speaker & Mrs. Speaker & Mr. Staff Sergeant The Staff at The Staff of The Family of Trust of Vice Admiral Vice Admiral & Mrs. Vice Admiral & Mr. Vice President Vice President & Mrs. Vice President & Mr. Your friends at

Petrarch’s Fannypack: The Accessory That Changed Poetry

CitizenX just sent me a link to a book called “Napoleon’s Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History”. I’d probably like it; I enjoy that kind of boutique pop science book. They can be awfully precious, and the writer often believes that THIS ONE THING IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVERYTHING, but they’re fun like candy and I do learn from them. It’s like the enjoyable bits of college lectures.

Anyway I realized that there are about a hundred books out in the last decade with titles in the form: [FAMOUS PERSON]’s [NOUN] and they’re almost all this kind of book. Some of them are just [PERSONAL NOUN]’s NOUN

Examples: Galileo’s Daughter, Halley’s Quest, Miss Leavitt’s Stars, The Mapmaker’s Wife, Humboldt’s Cosmos, Kepler’s Witch, Einstein’s Heroes… Those are just from a quick look at Amazon’s “History of Science” category.

Maybe we should make a matrix of Famous Dead People and Nouns and write all the ones that aren’t done already. Dibs on “Kropotkin’s Bicycle”, here!