I let people call me names. If they want to call me a master or a
captain or a dickhead that's their thing not mine.
I never seriously call other
boat owners captains. I only use the word in relation to professionals who run ships with crews etc.
I will often use 'captain' though when writing about boats - joking, making the text more readable by using more dramatic language. But that's the difference between the social media world like a cruising forum and the real world where people are out there enjoying their hobbies.
What I want to say is that I never mean
captain when I say 'captain' and I am 100% fine with others using words the way they like to use them. Word are not proprietary, they are open source.
Cheers,
b.