Was a professor correct to chastise me for writing “Prof. X” rather than “Professor X”?












4















I emailed Professor Mill [not his real surname] regarding typos in, and questions on, his book. I've never met and contacted him. My email commences with this salutation




Dear Prof. Mill




He replied




It is customary to address professors by their title in full, just as most people would not abbreviate the full names of people whom they do not know well.




His unpleasantness startled me. Is he correct though? If he is, wouldn't we have to write Mr. in full as Mister or even Master?










share|improve this question




















  • 4





    Wow, Prof Mill is full of him/herself. I could care less about whether someone spelled my title or name incorrectly. Hell, they can write Dear Santa Claus in place of my real name and I would hardly blink.

    – Prof. Santa Claus
    3 hours ago






  • 1





    @Cag51 Ah OK! I'll add "chastise" back.

    – Antinatalist
    3 hours ago






  • 2





    It is customary to address professors by their title in full — (sigh) No, sir, it is not.

    – JeffE
    1 hour ago


















4















I emailed Professor Mill [not his real surname] regarding typos in, and questions on, his book. I've never met and contacted him. My email commences with this salutation




Dear Prof. Mill




He replied




It is customary to address professors by their title in full, just as most people would not abbreviate the full names of people whom they do not know well.




His unpleasantness startled me. Is he correct though? If he is, wouldn't we have to write Mr. in full as Mister or even Master?










share|improve this question




















  • 4





    Wow, Prof Mill is full of him/herself. I could care less about whether someone spelled my title or name incorrectly. Hell, they can write Dear Santa Claus in place of my real name and I would hardly blink.

    – Prof. Santa Claus
    3 hours ago






  • 1





    @Cag51 Ah OK! I'll add "chastise" back.

    – Antinatalist
    3 hours ago






  • 2





    It is customary to address professors by their title in full — (sigh) No, sir, it is not.

    – JeffE
    1 hour ago
















4












4








4








I emailed Professor Mill [not his real surname] regarding typos in, and questions on, his book. I've never met and contacted him. My email commences with this salutation




Dear Prof. Mill




He replied




It is customary to address professors by their title in full, just as most people would not abbreviate the full names of people whom they do not know well.




His unpleasantness startled me. Is he correct though? If he is, wouldn't we have to write Mr. in full as Mister or even Master?










share|improve this question
















I emailed Professor Mill [not his real surname] regarding typos in, and questions on, his book. I've never met and contacted him. My email commences with this salutation




Dear Prof. Mill




He replied




It is customary to address professors by their title in full, just as most people would not abbreviate the full names of people whom they do not know well.




His unpleasantness startled me. Is he correct though? If he is, wouldn't we have to write Mr. in full as Mister or even Master?







email






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 20 mins ago







Antinatalist

















asked 4 hours ago









AntinatalistAntinatalist

263




263








  • 4





    Wow, Prof Mill is full of him/herself. I could care less about whether someone spelled my title or name incorrectly. Hell, they can write Dear Santa Claus in place of my real name and I would hardly blink.

    – Prof. Santa Claus
    3 hours ago






  • 1





    @Cag51 Ah OK! I'll add "chastise" back.

    – Antinatalist
    3 hours ago






  • 2





    It is customary to address professors by their title in full — (sigh) No, sir, it is not.

    – JeffE
    1 hour ago
















  • 4





    Wow, Prof Mill is full of him/herself. I could care less about whether someone spelled my title or name incorrectly. Hell, they can write Dear Santa Claus in place of my real name and I would hardly blink.

    – Prof. Santa Claus
    3 hours ago






  • 1





    @Cag51 Ah OK! I'll add "chastise" back.

    – Antinatalist
    3 hours ago






  • 2





    It is customary to address professors by their title in full — (sigh) No, sir, it is not.

    – JeffE
    1 hour ago










4




4





Wow, Prof Mill is full of him/herself. I could care less about whether someone spelled my title or name incorrectly. Hell, they can write Dear Santa Claus in place of my real name and I would hardly blink.

– Prof. Santa Claus
3 hours ago





Wow, Prof Mill is full of him/herself. I could care less about whether someone spelled my title or name incorrectly. Hell, they can write Dear Santa Claus in place of my real name and I would hardly blink.

– Prof. Santa Claus
3 hours ago




1




1





@Cag51 Ah OK! I'll add "chastise" back.

– Antinatalist
3 hours ago





@Cag51 Ah OK! I'll add "chastise" back.

– Antinatalist
3 hours ago




2




2





It is customary to address professors by their title in full — (sigh) No, sir, it is not.

– JeffE
1 hour ago







It is customary to address professors by their title in full — (sigh) No, sir, it is not.

– JeffE
1 hour ago












1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















11














What a jerk! No, writing "Prof." is perfectly fine; his reaction is both incorrect and completely inappropriate. I cannot imagine any professor I know (even the ones I don't like) writing such a thing.



What country is this guy in? Some countries (e.g., Germany) have stricter rules for such things, but I'm still shocked he would respond like this.




regarding typos in ... his book




Ah. Is it possible he's being snarky about your abbreviation since you criticized his typos? If your e-mail had a condescending tone, maybe he is trying to "bite back." That's the only thing I can think of.






share|improve this answer


























  • In view of academia.stackexchange.com/questions/127175/…, I'd rather not identify which Prof. M. But I'll say that he's definitely an Anglophone, from a (former?) Commonwealth or the US.

    – Antinatalist
    3 hours ago











  • "Is it possible he's being snarky about your grammar since you criticized his": Possibly? But I pointed out objective mistakes as to fact, not grammatical ones.

    – Antinatalist
    3 hours ago











  • Thanks for info. Deleting my comment with the unredacted name.

    – cag51
    3 hours ago











  • No problem! But I think his real surname is in my post history anyways....

    – Antinatalist
    3 hours ago






  • 1





    "biting back" like that is still unprofessional even if provoked

    – Thomas
    2 hours ago











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1 Answer
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active

oldest

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1 Answer
1






active

oldest

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active

oldest

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active

oldest

votes









11














What a jerk! No, writing "Prof." is perfectly fine; his reaction is both incorrect and completely inappropriate. I cannot imagine any professor I know (even the ones I don't like) writing such a thing.



What country is this guy in? Some countries (e.g., Germany) have stricter rules for such things, but I'm still shocked he would respond like this.




regarding typos in ... his book




Ah. Is it possible he's being snarky about your abbreviation since you criticized his typos? If your e-mail had a condescending tone, maybe he is trying to "bite back." That's the only thing I can think of.






share|improve this answer


























  • In view of academia.stackexchange.com/questions/127175/…, I'd rather not identify which Prof. M. But I'll say that he's definitely an Anglophone, from a (former?) Commonwealth or the US.

    – Antinatalist
    3 hours ago











  • "Is it possible he's being snarky about your grammar since you criticized his": Possibly? But I pointed out objective mistakes as to fact, not grammatical ones.

    – Antinatalist
    3 hours ago











  • Thanks for info. Deleting my comment with the unredacted name.

    – cag51
    3 hours ago











  • No problem! But I think his real surname is in my post history anyways....

    – Antinatalist
    3 hours ago






  • 1





    "biting back" like that is still unprofessional even if provoked

    – Thomas
    2 hours ago
















11














What a jerk! No, writing "Prof." is perfectly fine; his reaction is both incorrect and completely inappropriate. I cannot imagine any professor I know (even the ones I don't like) writing such a thing.



What country is this guy in? Some countries (e.g., Germany) have stricter rules for such things, but I'm still shocked he would respond like this.




regarding typos in ... his book




Ah. Is it possible he's being snarky about your abbreviation since you criticized his typos? If your e-mail had a condescending tone, maybe he is trying to "bite back." That's the only thing I can think of.






share|improve this answer


























  • In view of academia.stackexchange.com/questions/127175/…, I'd rather not identify which Prof. M. But I'll say that he's definitely an Anglophone, from a (former?) Commonwealth or the US.

    – Antinatalist
    3 hours ago











  • "Is it possible he's being snarky about your grammar since you criticized his": Possibly? But I pointed out objective mistakes as to fact, not grammatical ones.

    – Antinatalist
    3 hours ago











  • Thanks for info. Deleting my comment with the unredacted name.

    – cag51
    3 hours ago











  • No problem! But I think his real surname is in my post history anyways....

    – Antinatalist
    3 hours ago






  • 1





    "biting back" like that is still unprofessional even if provoked

    – Thomas
    2 hours ago














11












11








11







What a jerk! No, writing "Prof." is perfectly fine; his reaction is both incorrect and completely inappropriate. I cannot imagine any professor I know (even the ones I don't like) writing such a thing.



What country is this guy in? Some countries (e.g., Germany) have stricter rules for such things, but I'm still shocked he would respond like this.




regarding typos in ... his book




Ah. Is it possible he's being snarky about your abbreviation since you criticized his typos? If your e-mail had a condescending tone, maybe he is trying to "bite back." That's the only thing I can think of.






share|improve this answer















What a jerk! No, writing "Prof." is perfectly fine; his reaction is both incorrect and completely inappropriate. I cannot imagine any professor I know (even the ones I don't like) writing such a thing.



What country is this guy in? Some countries (e.g., Germany) have stricter rules for such things, but I'm still shocked he would respond like this.




regarding typos in ... his book




Ah. Is it possible he's being snarky about your abbreviation since you criticized his typos? If your e-mail had a condescending tone, maybe he is trying to "bite back." That's the only thing I can think of.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 3 hours ago

























answered 3 hours ago









cag51cag51

17.3k63565




17.3k63565













  • In view of academia.stackexchange.com/questions/127175/…, I'd rather not identify which Prof. M. But I'll say that he's definitely an Anglophone, from a (former?) Commonwealth or the US.

    – Antinatalist
    3 hours ago











  • "Is it possible he's being snarky about your grammar since you criticized his": Possibly? But I pointed out objective mistakes as to fact, not grammatical ones.

    – Antinatalist
    3 hours ago











  • Thanks for info. Deleting my comment with the unredacted name.

    – cag51
    3 hours ago











  • No problem! But I think his real surname is in my post history anyways....

    – Antinatalist
    3 hours ago






  • 1





    "biting back" like that is still unprofessional even if provoked

    – Thomas
    2 hours ago



















  • In view of academia.stackexchange.com/questions/127175/…, I'd rather not identify which Prof. M. But I'll say that he's definitely an Anglophone, from a (former?) Commonwealth or the US.

    – Antinatalist
    3 hours ago











  • "Is it possible he's being snarky about your grammar since you criticized his": Possibly? But I pointed out objective mistakes as to fact, not grammatical ones.

    – Antinatalist
    3 hours ago











  • Thanks for info. Deleting my comment with the unredacted name.

    – cag51
    3 hours ago











  • No problem! But I think his real surname is in my post history anyways....

    – Antinatalist
    3 hours ago






  • 1





    "biting back" like that is still unprofessional even if provoked

    – Thomas
    2 hours ago

















In view of academia.stackexchange.com/questions/127175/…, I'd rather not identify which Prof. M. But I'll say that he's definitely an Anglophone, from a (former?) Commonwealth or the US.

– Antinatalist
3 hours ago





In view of academia.stackexchange.com/questions/127175/…, I'd rather not identify which Prof. M. But I'll say that he's definitely an Anglophone, from a (former?) Commonwealth or the US.

– Antinatalist
3 hours ago













"Is it possible he's being snarky about your grammar since you criticized his": Possibly? But I pointed out objective mistakes as to fact, not grammatical ones.

– Antinatalist
3 hours ago





"Is it possible he's being snarky about your grammar since you criticized his": Possibly? But I pointed out objective mistakes as to fact, not grammatical ones.

– Antinatalist
3 hours ago













Thanks for info. Deleting my comment with the unredacted name.

– cag51
3 hours ago





Thanks for info. Deleting my comment with the unredacted name.

– cag51
3 hours ago













No problem! But I think his real surname is in my post history anyways....

– Antinatalist
3 hours ago





No problem! But I think his real surname is in my post history anyways....

– Antinatalist
3 hours ago




1




1





"biting back" like that is still unprofessional even if provoked

– Thomas
2 hours ago





"biting back" like that is still unprofessional even if provoked

– Thomas
2 hours ago


















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