fsgl wrote on Tuesday, December 10, 2013:
The etymology is vale dicere, to say farewell. A valedictory speech is given at commencement and when degrees are bestowed.
I agree with Pimm.
British subjects, correct me if I am wrong; it must be the Brits’ way of connoting “title”; i.e., M.D., D.O., Esq., Q.C., (for non-Rumpole fans, it means Queen’s Counsel).
Sorta like “jumper” instead of “sweater”, “lift” instead of “elevator”, “lorry” instead of “truck”, “torch” instead of “flashlight”.
Americans may find it strange; but Henry Higgins, in “Why Can’t The English” (My Fair Lady), laments the mangling of the English language: “There even are places where English completely disappears. In America, they haven’t used it for years!”
The valedictory can be deployed for the patronymic by Russian users as well. One of my Russian patients told me it’s a honorific, rather than a humilific.
In Demographics, a title can be assigned before the first name is entered. I do consider them titles as I think that they are derivations (Monsieur, My Lord; Madame, My Lady; Master; Mistress). We have all become lords and ladies in a federal republic.
Young folks are more informal in the preference of being addressed by their given names. We, old folks, being more formal and proper, send letters with greetings such as “Dear Dr. Smith”. Unless we know the person on a first name basis, we don’t pretend otherwise. It is not stuffiness, but a matter of cultural difference between the generations.
