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March 8, 2005 12:01 AM
Broken: AA.com title list
Online travel pioneer Terry Jones points out this list of honorifics over at AA.com... as he says, "every title from Duchess to Swami!"
Not exactly broken, but perhaps a bit excessive?
I'd like to think this can be attributed to the p.c. age, as in political correctness. They don't want to invite any possible trouble by omitting any titles, so they include every single one in existence.
This has always bugged me, and no, it's not P.C. For instance, there's a spot for "Lord", but no "Dark Lord".
I never know what to select. Do I just put regular old "Lord", or do I put "Master", which is what all my friends call me?
Same problem, different website, posted back in Janauary.
http://broken.typepad.com/b/2005/01/just_a_comment_.html
(By the way, why was that catagorized under Current Affairs and not Web/Tech? I had to go to the monthly listings to find it.)
Jeff: That was already noted by stoo.
unknown: Ens probably is Ensign, Eur and Eng... European and English?
they are also missing:
Hegemon, HU (his ugliness), and of course, the ever important Bum?Hobo
They should probably also put a Michael Jackson category, since he really only fits in his own category. They really need to make sure to not turn off those kinds of people.
And yes, there is no "pope"
AVM: Air Vice-Marshal (or Automatic Vending Machine)
PFC: Private First Class (or Potatoes, Fish, Chips)
May I point you to http://www.acronymfinder.com/
It is an excellent site.
Eur Eng is a European title meaning the person is a chartered engineer i.e. one who is a member of the recognised professional body for their discipline. In the UK C.Eng. is used after the name to show the same thing but in the many other countries it is used in a title position.
Where is Invalid Atribute Index? I seem to remember that a certain Bitish playhouse was a little more inclusive...
You figure they'd just have a text box to type in that you're the Archbishop of Canterbury when you're signing up for tickets.
*sigh* I first ran into this issue back in 1997 when I built the first site for Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motor Cars.
When we were designing the page with a request for information form the clients were very concerned about addressing their customers appropriately.
Being crude Americans, we were unclear what the issue might be. Why wouldn't you just use Mr., Mrs., Ms. and maybe Dr.?
For RRMC their perspective is that they serve all sorts of wealthy clientele who use other honorifics. To understand their problem better, we asked them to send us a list of the honorifics their current customers used. We got a list like the one you see here, some of which could only pertain to a single person in the world, e.g., "Sultan of Brunei".
Ultimately, we convinced them that their CURRENT customers like the Sultan of Brunei were not nearly as likely to be looking at this website (especially as it was pure brochureware) as much as aspirational viewers. And that the Sultan would just have his people helicopter him directly to the factory in Crewe, England if he had any questions vs. ordering himself up a glossy brochure via their new website.
In any case, the net net (pun intended) was that they went with a small list of 4 or 5 possible honorifics and didn't do the silly list of thousands of possibilities between Admiral and Swami.
I don't think this is broken at all. Just because not everyone is a transgendered Jewish Squadron Leader doesn't mean products shouldn't be designed that accommodate our needs.
So why not just have a place to type in the honorific instead of a lengthy drop-down list? That way ANYONE can be handled!
Because that would make sense, Gary.
What's wrong with you, anyway? Do you begrudge the poor wage slave the week or so it took to research and type in the complete list? (heh)
On flight 1877s from Pittsburgh to Dallas, my sister was denied an extra glass of water. It was a 5 hour flight and she takes medication. The flight attendants were very rude. My sister is 60 and I am 66. I guess we just got a taste how old people are treated. Jeanne
"Squad Leader" is short for "Squadron Leader", a rank in the (British) Royal Air Force equivalent to Major in the army.
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I signed up as a Swami on United Mileage Plus, back around 1998. Provoked a giggle from their phone reps now and then.
Posted by: mph at March 8, 2005 12:49 AM