"esquire" is a bogus title?

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It is my understanding that "Esq." after a name means absolutely nothing at all. Larry "Bud" Mellman could be an equire if he wanted to. It has no legal achievment or stature like "PhD" or "Viscount"... just pompous and made up.

Am I right?

― andy, Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:10 (twenty-two years ago)

I thought it was a lawyering thing but I could be wrong.

― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:13 (twenty-two years ago)

You have to have a watch.

― The Huckle-Buck (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:13 (twenty-two years ago)

TO BE EQUINE NEEDS MUST SECRET HANDSHAKE

― EQUUS (gabbneb), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:15 (twenty-two years ago)

esquire

NOUN: 1. A man or boy who is a member of the gentry in England ranking directly below a knight. 2. abbr. Esq. Used as an honorific usually in its abbreviated form, especially after the name of an attorney or a consular officer: Jane Doe, Esq.; John Doe, Esq. 3. In medieval times, a candidate for knighthood who served a knight as an attendant and a shield bearer. 4. Archaic An English country gentleman; a squire.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:25 (twenty-two years ago)

LAWYERS ARE THE NEW KNIGHTS WTF!?!???!!!?

― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:26 (twenty-two years ago)

that's why they wear dresses (in Canada).

― The Huckle-Buck (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:27 (twenty-two years ago)

You need to groom my horse, shine my armor, hone my swords and darn my socks.

― Chevalier de Godon (Hereward), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:27 (twenty-two years ago)

"A title of courtesy..." Total bullshit.

Main Entry: es·quire
Pronunciation: 'es-"kwIr, is-'
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French escuier squire, from Late Latin scutarius, from Latin scutum shield; akin to Old Irish sciath shield
1 : a member of the English gentry ranking below a knight
2 : a candidate for knighthood serving as shield bearer and attendant to a knight
3 -- used as a title of courtesy usually placed in its abbreviated form after the surname <John R. Smith, Esq.>
4 archaic : a landed proprietor

― andy, Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Andy is right, except that you're not supposed to put "Esq." after your own name, you put it after someone else's name to honor them.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Unless your name is Bill S. Preston.

― reverend nickalicious, esq. (nickalicious), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:32 (twenty-two years ago)

And you don't use "esq." if you've addressed them as Mr. John R. Smith.

― Markelby (Mark C), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, lots of people do thing they're not "supposed" to do. Also, technically speaking, "reverend" is not supposed to be used as an honorific so much as as an adjective, which is why it should be preceeded by "the". But that's pretty old-skool.

Mostly I wanted to see if I could use the word "as" twice in a row and get away with it.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:34 (twenty-two years ago)

He had had to do that before...

― andy, Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:37 (twenty-two years ago)

when do you call someone the MOST reverend?

― The Huckle-Buck (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:38 (twenty-two years ago)

That's why I chose Reverend over Pastor or Father etc. when doing the ordination-by-mail thing, because I wanted to have a name that was nothing but adjectives.

xpost MOS REV

― reverend nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:39 (twenty-two years ago)

The Right Reverend. It's all optional, I don't think there are any rules about those pre-reverential adjectives.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Should I then cease refering to myself as 'My Most Exalted Imperious Grandiloquence'?

― Michael White (Hereward), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:44 (twenty-two years ago)

What is a Doctor of Divinity? DocDiv?

― andy, Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:45 (twenty-two years ago)

wtf 10 posts before Bill S Preston get a mention?

4. Archaic An English country gentleman; a squire.

Mmm-hmm.

― Enrique (Enrique), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:47 (twenty-two years ago)

The Ku Klux Klan has the greatest titles of all...."Exalted Cyclops" and "Imperial Wizard" and "Grand Dragon"... Hmmm, I wonder if there's a chapter in Oakland..

― andy, Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:50 (twenty-two years ago)

"Exalted Cyclops"???
So they are just all names you'd give your cock if you were a giant loser.

― The Huckle-Buck (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:51 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, that's Eisbär, Esq. to all y'all motherfuckers

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Thursday, 27 May 2004 02:42 (twenty-two years ago)

You are also entitled to Esq. if you've held an officer's commission in the British armed forces.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 27 May 2004 02:59 (twenty-two years ago)

seriously now -- in the USA, it's just an honorific title for those who have been admitted to practice law. in other words, more self-important lawyer bullshit.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Thursday, 27 May 2004 03:02 (twenty-two years ago)

for an example of the use of this suffix to honor someone else, see "Thunderbird, ESQ" by ver Gories

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 27 May 2004 13:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Doctor of Divinity = DD, innit?

― Ricardo (RickyT), Thursday, 27 May 2004 13:12 (twenty-two years ago)

What I find funny is surgeons: men get called Mr. (not Dr), but women get called Miss. Mmmm Little Miss Brain Surgeon, nice, isn't it?

― Liz :x (Liz :x), Thursday, 27 May 2004 14:14 (twenty-two years ago)

"Exalted Cyclops"???
So they are just all names you'd give your cock if you were a giant loser.

This is the Ku Klux Klan, we're talking about, remember.

― Christine 'Green Leafy Dragon' Indigo (cindigo), Thursday, 27 May 2004 20:40 (twenty-two years ago)

I've been thinking I'd like to be called 'Spencer L.A. Chow' from now on, thanks.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 27 May 2004 20:49 (twenty-two years ago)

I prefer to go by Young Master Aimless.

― Aimless (Aimless), Thursday, 27 May 2004 20:55 (twenty-two years ago)

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