General / Off-Topic Lieutenant - Which is it 'Left'tenant or 'Loo'tenant?
- Thread starter Ben Ryder
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People are over exaggerating this. Its really this simple.
British soldiers say leftenant, because they do. They always have. Most likely always will. It spans century after century of rich military history, achievements and battle honours. Like so many other British military traditions and preserved ways of doing things, we will probably never truly know why the word is used that way. There is most likely no language definition that can cover it. Quote all the Latin, French or Eskimo that you like, it makes no odds. Its probably just become that way over time as it rolls off the tongue easier. In effect, it is military slang. That is how the British army says it. That's the fact here.
Americans just say lieutenant. Because that's how its spelt.
For informative value, i have read that the 'left' part is closer too the original French spellings of the word used around the 17th century and it may have originated from that, along with the fact many French originating words were adapted by us Brits over the centuries because we don't like the French. Seems legit. Finally i also read that traditionally, lieutenants would stand behind and to the left of their commanding officer in battle. I am a former soldier, and i am unsure of this last one, i find it a bit unlikely, unless every commanding officer stood on the far right of his entire regiment in a battle......but again its just for information's sake.
What you should really be asking, is why Americans say aluminum and not aluminium.
British soldiers say leftenant, because they do. They always have. Most likely always will. It spans century after century of rich military history, achievements and battle honours. Like so many other British military traditions and preserved ways of doing things, we will probably never truly know why the word is used that way. There is most likely no language definition that can cover it. Quote all the Latin, French or Eskimo that you like, it makes no odds. Its probably just become that way over time as it rolls off the tongue easier. In effect, it is military slang. That is how the British army says it. That's the fact here.
Americans just say lieutenant. Because that's how its spelt.
For informative value, i have read that the 'left' part is closer too the original French spellings of the word used around the 17th century and it may have originated from that, along with the fact many French originating words were adapted by us Brits over the centuries because we don't like the French. Seems legit. Finally i also read that traditionally, lieutenants would stand behind and to the left of their commanding officer in battle. I am a former soldier, and i am unsure of this last one, i find it a bit unlikely, unless every commanding officer stood on the far right of his entire regiment in a battle......but again its just for information's sake.
What you should really be asking, is why Americans say aluminum and not aluminium.
Aye, but it doesn't add up!
A long thread and some amusing contributions.
U was not generally a letter, the sound being described with y and v. Ancient Roman stone carvings frequently use v where u might seem more appropriate.
The letter W, which is also a later innovation, is pronounced double U. In French, for example, it is pronounced dou-bla-vae but generally has a waa sound. (It is also interesting and emphasises the point, when we recall that in Germanic languages, W is pronounced V, Weimar is pronounced Vi-mar.)
The word Lieu would have been written Liev, or along those lines. The jump from Lev to Lef demonstrates the point.
A somewhat more archaic example would be the word Ye, as in Ye olde Shoppe. Ye is pronounced The. (It may also be pronounced You in some contexts.) But never YEE. Olde and Shoppe are now simply Old and Shop.
U was not generally a letter, the sound being described with y and v. Ancient Roman stone carvings frequently use v where u might seem more appropriate.
The letter W, which is also a later innovation, is pronounced double U. In French, for example, it is pronounced dou-bla-vae but generally has a waa sound. (It is also interesting and emphasises the point, when we recall that in Germanic languages, W is pronounced V, Weimar is pronounced Vi-mar.)
The word Lieu would have been written Liev, or along those lines. The jump from Lev to Lef demonstrates the point.
A somewhat more archaic example would be the word Ye, as in Ye olde Shoppe. Ye is pronounced The. (It may also be pronounced You in some contexts.) But never YEE. Olde and Shoppe are now simply Old and Shop.
Mr Webster, yes that one, is behind a lot of the words Americans spell differently.
Lieu in the English language is pronounced Left tenent. Americans corrupted like so many other words to pronounce it incorrectly with the Loo anyway that's the explanation! 
Lieu in the English language is pronounced Left tenent. Americans corrupted like so many other words to pronounce it incorrectly with the Loo anyway that's the explanation!
http://fr.forvo.com/search/lieutenant/fr/
As lieutenant was a French word before it was used in English, the way it is pronounced in French is the true uncorrupted one. As you can see the American way of pronouncing it is a lot closer to the original French version.
Respectfully, the French term was applied because the ruling classes identified with France before they would their own, common, Saxon and Celtic peoples.
The French way of fighting was for the commander to leave one of his subordinates to supervise the fighting and if they survived, to be considered for promotion.
The Saxon and Celtic way of fighting was for everyone to take their clothes off, paint themselves in whatever colours they could find, pick up a wooden club and some stones and rush at their enemies, screaming like there's no tomorrow.
Which there often wasn't!
Now if wars were fought like that now, there wouldn't be any need for nuclear bombs.
But that's another matter.
The reason the Americans adopted it was probably the same reason they chose to drive on the wrong side of the road. Because they aren't British. But....
The word is English, the Americans have trouble with our language but pretend to speak it. One needs a translator when speaking with Americans. They feel that they know everything, they believe they invented the automobile, the computer, and the telephone. Not so.I just don't know?
Any ideas? Which it is and why?
I hope it's not Loo attendant!
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The word is English, the Americans have trouble with our language but pretend to speak it. One needs a translator when speaking with Americans. They feel that they know everything, they believe they invented the automobile, the computer, and the telephone. Not so.I just don't know?
Any ideas? Which it is and why?
I hope it's not Loo attendant!