Perhaps Doctor is a nickname he has earned moreso than many who were granted the honorific. Given what you can get a PhD in these days, if it flatters him and i

Perhaps Doctor is a nickname he has earned moreso than many who were granted the honorific. Given what you can get a PhD in these days, if it flatters him and it's in genuine admiration, call him that. I'd take a nickname over an honorific any day. IMO, the thing about honors is they're only meaningful if you can afford to dispense with them, so I think it would be pretentious for him to introduce himself with it. I've only ever called the various Sirs, Lords, Rt. Hons, Generals, Colonels, and various Worships I've met by their first names because I'm a civilian.