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  • I've never heard of anyone in the German-speaking world using "Magister" as how they want to be addressed. It's extremely old-fashioned in that way. There used to be quite a few job titles that used it when Latin was still used to make such titles, but it's not a form of address in German that I've ever heard. Maybe it's an Austrian thing, or there's something I've missed completely, or he's miffed that he didn't manage to do a PhD? I'd say that if your German colleagues ignore it, you can safely ignore it, too.

    Magister has no English equivalent

    Of course it does, it's equivalent to 'master' for academic degrees. In fact, in the course of educational reform, quite a few German degrees have been re-christened 'master' from the older "Magister".

    Edit: Or is it just something in his e-mail signature? Then it's not meant as a title, just to tell people about his education.

  • Of course it does, it's equivalent to 'master' for academic degrees.

    I don't think we have anything for that as a prefix. People who want to indicate that they have a Masters degree tend to put MEng, MSc or MA after their name. Calling yourself Master Xyz is the old fashioned way of saying you're a male under 18, you become Mister Xyz when you hit 18. I think that's correct.

  • when you hit 18. I think that's correct.

    Well, 21 at least if we're being old fashioned.

  • Calling yourself Master Xyz is the old fashioned way of saying you're a male under 18, you become Mister Xyz when you hit 18.

    Or you're a Chancery or Queen's Bench Master in the High Court.

  • tester:

    While master's degrees are a thing, I don't think anybody has ever used the honorific Master in English to indicate that somebody has one, except in the rare cases of persons with the surname Bates. In some trades, it is used to address or designate an instructor of apprentices.

    Jonny69:

    I don't think we have anything for that as a prefix. People who want to indicate that they have a Masters degree tend to put MEng, MSc or MA after their name. Calling yourself Master Xyz is the old fashioned way of saying you're a male under 18, you become Mister Xyz when you hit 18. I think that's correct.

    You may both have misunderstood, and I probably didn't put that clearly enough. It's not a form of address in German, only an academic degree, and 'master' is its equivalent as an academic degree title.

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