What’s In a Title – You Can Call Me Lord

Titles

A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name in certain contexts. It can mean a generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification.

Today, titles often don’t match marital status, age, or gender, like they used to. I am sure many have fallen into the trap of referring to a woman as Mrs., only to be quickly corrected by a stern reply, “I am Ms.!”.

These days, it’s almost easier to call everyone "it" to avoid social mistakes.

In some cultures, people still respect their elders. This usually means anyone older than you. For example, you would call a man older than you "Sir."

I was reminded of this in interacting with one of my most loyal followers on Vocal. They said no when I asked them to call me “Calvin.” They felt it was disrespectful in their culture. The world would benefit from a little more respect, so I was quite okay with this, but not in a condescending way.

It did, however, prompt this story related to titles.

Call Me Lord

I always thought making work fun was important, as long as no one got hurt or offended. It helped relieve tension at times. Before remote work, we spent long hours at the office. This made things intense, especially if you couldn’t have any fun.

I worked for a company where the CEO called all PhD staff "Dr." I think he wanted everyone to know they weren't dealing with just any "average koala!"

It really confused new hires from Eastern or Asian cultures. They thought they had to call you “Dr.” and then ask, "Dr., do you want me to do this?” or “Dr., can you tell me what I need to do here?”

It got embarrassing for me. I have never been one to flaunt my education, but others reveled in it.

I was telling a story and joking with two ladies at my new company. To be socially correct, I suggested they call me Lord.

They laughed it off because, of course, they didn’t believe me. So I decided to take it one step further.

“Look, I am actually of royal descent. I mean, with a surname like London, what do you think?” "I choose to stay quiet about it because it's embarrassing. When I left England for here, I gave all that up," I added, embellishing the story.

They looked confused, not knowing whether I was having a piece of them or telling the truth.

I told them, “Look, I will prove it to you. I will take a photo of the family crest tonight, and you can compare it to the one you see on the internet."

I had a small replica of the City of London crest i got during a work trip to England. I took a photo to share it with them.

To add to this, I also did some digging into the family name.

When I showed it to them, they were staggered because it matched the one they had found on the internet. The family crest has several versions. These differences arose as the family spread across England.

They asked me what the words “Domine dirige dos” on the crest meant. I replied that is the family motto. It means “Lord Guide Us,” which I had gleaned from my research.

Baffled by Bull***it

I baffled them with enough bullshit about the family history to get them to believe me.

The conclusion to this little charade came when one of them was getting married. She sent us the wedding invitation addressed to:

“Lord & Lady London”

I had to confess about my heredity. It turned into a joke at work. Whenever they wanted to be cheeky, they called me “M’ Lord."

Who knows, somewhere along the line, there must be some royal heritage. I often tell people how to spell my name. I say, “It’s London, like the city, and Calvin, like Calvin Klein jeans—but not the money!"

Till next time,

Calvin