Lieutenant?

Question

Why is it that Americans pronounce Lieutenant as it's spelled, and the rest of the English speaking world pronounces it "Leftenant"?

Answer 1

who cares how you pronounce it ... all "LT's" are former "CADIDIOTS" anyway.

oh im sorry cadet + idiot = CADIDIOT

do you know the difference between a cadidiot and a monkey? you can train the monkey!

Answer 2

There is this thing called " Army French" and "Navy English".
Most of the army terms and phrases comes from the French, at about the time of Napoleon. Different countries had alliances with one country or another and these changed often. One country would see how another one was organized, or dressed or whatever and would copy them. For instance the French, Russians, Austrians, Russians, Poland,Prussians, etc had cavalry called Hussars. and they dressed similarly. The American Navy pretty much copied the English Navy and picked up their phrases and terms. I do not know when the pronunciation split, but in modern times, both an American Navy Lieutenant and an American Army Lieutenant, are pronounced the same, but they are not equal in rank. I know this doesnt answer your question, but I am sure it has somthing to do with it.

Answer 3

It's two different words, actually... though Leftenant and Lieutenant both probably have a common ancestor word (probably all the way back in Latin).

Seeing as we'd just won our independence from England, the US Military was loath to take on English terminology for our military, especially because of the extensive training efforts offered by the french during the revolutionary war. Lieutenant is the french word derived from lieu (as in, in lieu of) for place, and tenant... the holder of a position. Therefore the word means, literally, "place holder." When the captain is not available to command his unit, or cannot be with a particular element, the lieutenant acts in place of the captain with the authority to give orders to keep discipline in the unit.

Answer 4

America's prostitution of the English language! Like the so called educated American twit who removed all the o's in English words - re Valour / American re Valor. Just didn't understand what he'd done!

As indeed - Americans always want to charge into everyone countries and take issue with their heritage! Like the nuts who have always decried great English and Internal authors & poets their prose and its contribution to world literature over centuries.

While their such meager renderings are still in the nursery schools! Being actively more strangled / corrupted everyday.

Put Americans classical scholars in UK teaching institutions and their usage, spelling and articulation of the English language is immediately called into question, occassions great mirth and/or utter dismay / beleif re!

I.e. a so called American English teaching professional (who shall remain nameless) who at first term run up exams categorically failed almost all in the entire (born and bred English students) for their - in his quoted words - "the atrocious and devesting spelling of their national language"

On investigation by the school board - it found he'd corrected everything in keeping with American standards!

Needless to say he had his *** run off in record time!

And that was in the 70's! They havent really progressed much since then - have they?

Answer 5

It is their way of pronouncing it. Others pronounce it as Litenant.It is pronounced, as well, as any other English word, as the norms adapted by any country, or any person, for that matter. However, in formal speeches, it is just but ethical, to adapt to the prononunciation patterned after the universal norm. Meaning to say, everyone is free to announce it as one wants to. The pronounciation habits differs from one country to another, and from one region to another, and individually, according to how one hears it and follow after.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

Keep in mind that the early American troops were trained by Baron von Steuben, a Prussian officer, as well as by some French officers as well. That could have something to do with it.

Answer 8

Americans do not speak the Queen's English. We speak American. Everybody else speaks English.

Answer 9

thats a good question,i wonder it too,my country pronounce it as leftenant too,but American's english is afterall different from others

Answer 10

We say it properly, and the English don't. Or, who cares? Occasionally we say LT.

Seriously, we speak different dialects of the same language.