I'm surprised that no one's mentioned that the title Doctor is as cheap as 200 whispered hints. It really irks me too, because there's the actual profession in game that requires Watchful 100 (modified W100 needed to be a PoSI for the Notability). Having it so readily available to everyone feels wrong. At least a Watchful requirement should be applied to it

If I had actually become a doctor, only for anyone to be named such

"Doctor," of course, applies to more professions than medicine, although many with Doctoral degrees do not use the title. (In the U.S., for example, lawyers are "Doctors of Jurisprudence," but instead of calling themselves "Doctor," they have appropriated the title "Esquire," which is really rather odd).
[...]
I personally prefer "Being" to "Person" (and use that form of address myself when gender is indeterminate), because I think "Person" does carry an overtone of humanity to it. The problem, though, with "Gentle Being" or "Gentle Person" is that it conveys a stature of gentility, and some of our characters not only lack that stature, but despise it. One who is proud of, or notorious for, his abominable status would not likely want any title which smacked of civility.

-- Mal

I'm surprised that no one's mentioned that the title Doctor is as cheap as 200 whispered hints. It really irks me too, because there's the actual profession in game that requires Watchful 100 (modified W100 needed to be a PoSI for the Notability). Having it so readily available to everyone feels wrong. At least a Watchful requirement should be applied to it, and considering the nature of vitality in the neath, a Mystery of the Elder Continent or the Boatman's Opponent would also work, really this could be a really cool thing if done right.

"Doctor," of course, applies to more professions than medicine, although many with Doctoral degrees do not use the title. (In the U.S., for example, lawyers are "Doctors of Jurisprudence," but instead of calling themselves "Doctor," they have appropriated the title "Esquire," which is really rather odd).

"Master," as suggested upthread, can also cover ship owners and those who have mastered a craft, but it is perhaps not used in the London that has fallen, because of those other Masters, who might frown on the usurpation of their titles. "Mistress," on the other hand, was once the common form of address for all women, married or otherwise, but that usage has fallen out of favor. I'm kind of surprised it has not made a comeback, since "Miss" and "Mrs" have largely become obsolete, but I'm sure there are good reasons for it.

As we are in London, it might be appropriate to have forms of address which were commonly used for non-English of certain nationalities, such as "Monsoor," "Mynheer," and "Don," but that might be pushing things. ("Don" would also work for more, ah, unsavory elements, although I don't think it was usual to refer to criminal overlords as "Don" in London)

"Squire" would be a good addition, it was not uncommon for the proles to address their social superiors as such, even if the individual so-addressed did not in fact own any land.
"Goodman" or "Good Fellow" was often used by the upper classes to address the proles, with "Goodwife" (abbreviated "Goody") for females, but of course these addresses are both gender-specific and obsolete (unless they persisted/persist in regional dialect, but we're in Middlesex).

I personally prefer "Being" to "Person" (and use that form of address myself when gender is indeterminate), because I think "Person" does carry an overtone of humanity to it. The problem, though, with "Gentle Being" or "Gentle Person" is that it conveys a stature of gentility, and some of our characters not only lack that stature, but despise it. One who is proud of, or notorious for, his abominable status would not likely want any title which smacked of civility.

-- Mal