skipstjórar og læknar

Back in my Somerville, LLC days I worked with a guy we called PLo. Whenever I called him on the phone, he'd pick up with a "Captain!" or a "Doctah!" Just yesterday on IM he referred to me as "Commissioner!". So when I came to Iceland a year ago I decided to try calling people these names in Icelandic. Trouble is, nobody here really knows how to deal with being called "Læknir!" (doctor) or "Skipstjóri!" (captain, literally 'ship's chief'). These titles seem to be used in Icelandic exclusively in a literal sense. This makes it all the more funny to me. You Stateside readers can try it out at home with the help of this handy-dandy arbitrary title guide:

(sea-going titles)

Skipstóri! = Captain!
Háseti! = Sailor!
Vélstjóri! = Engineer!
Siglingafræðingur! = Navigator!
Léttadrengur = Callboy!
Loftskeytamaður! = Telegraph operator!

(from our friends in the medical community)

Læknir! = Doctor!
Barnalæknir! = Pediatrician!
Hjartasérfræðingur! = Cardiologist!

(the ultimate combo)

Skipslæknir! = Ship's doctor!

You Icelandside readers can contribute your own titles below in the Comments section.