Frank, some people will never give up even though they are wrong. Those disagreeing are either not really civil engineers or ignorant. Either way it does not matter.
No, I'm not a civil engineer, which is the most basic kind of engineer. I got my degrees in chemical and environmental engineering. But you didn't specify that this (alleged) rule only pertained to civil engineering.
Like I said, I've been an engineer since 1985 (except for a 1 year period as a broker and 4 years of "early retirement"). I have held myself out as an engineer for those ~26 years, and have done work in just about every state, as well as a number of foreign countries.
It is NOT "illegal" to call yourself an "engineer" without a PE. It IS illegal to call yourself a "PE" without a current PE license. Can you understand the difference?
If it was "illegal" to do so, do you think I could have worked for major nationwide/international consulting firms like Booz Allen Hamilton and SAIC (as well as the US Army and a number of smaller firms) calling myself an engineer?
Yeesh, you are so set in insisting that you are "right" based on a (probably misinterpreted) dinner conversation with your husband that you will not have lost all sense of reason.
If it was a "violation," don't you think SOMEONE (my employers, my PE coworkers, the regulatory agencies, the "board," the government, my opponents when I ran for Congress" might have mentioned it by now?
Maybe there is some squirrely little state where it is illegal, but I doubt it. I've done consulting work in just about every state in the USA at some point or another (other than Rhode Island, I've never worked there- there might be one or two small states where I've never worked), as well as several US territories and Korea, Germany, England, Belgium, Italy, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, Japan, Iraq, and Turkey.
I'll tell you what, if you are so darned sure that you are right, please cite the law that says you are right and I'm wrong. I'm currently living in San Antonio, Texas, if you want to search state and local codes. If you can show me that I'm doing something illegal, I'll take "engineer" out of my title, my email, my business cards, and even my Congressional campaign web site. Fair enough? I'm sure I can come up with a more impressive title than "engineer" if I need to.
The really funny thing is, I don't even like engineering (which is one of the reasons I "retired early" before going back to work again a couple of years back). It's simple, straight forward, uncreative work, and about as exciting as watching the grass grow. Though it pays reasonably well.
I'd rather give myself a cooler title. Something with pizzaz. Maybe "Assistant to the Regional Manager."
So as you can imagine, I eagerly await your reply.