lieutenant

   Historically, a lieutenant is one who takes the place of another, especially a military officer who acts on behalf of a superior. The French words lieu tenant literally mean ‘place-holding’, and are the equivalent of the Latin locum tenens, ‘Lieutenant’ is much used vocatively in Shakespeare, notably in Othello, where Cassio is described in the First Folio as ‘an Honourable Lieutenant’. He is addressed either as ‘lieutenant’ or ‘good lieutenant’ throughout the play.

   In modern military usage, lieutenant as a naval rank for a commissioned officer is immediately below a commander. In the British army a lieutenant ranks immediately below a captain, as does a first lieutenant in the US army. ‘Lieutenant’ also occurs as a prefix to other military titles, as in ‘lieutenant-colonel’, where it indicates the rank immediately below the rank which is named afterwards.

   In the American police force and fire department, a lieutenant ranks immediately below a captain. Examples of usage abound in military and American crime novels. In The Magic Army, Leslie Thomas comments on the reaction of American soldiers when hearing a British officer announce his rank, pronouncing the word in the normal British way as ‘lefftenant’. American speakers would use ‘lootenant’, which is much closer to the French original. Scholars are unable to explain satisfactorily how the curious British pronunciation came about. War Brides, by Lois Battle, has a slightly unusual use of the title to an American army officer. He is certainly entitled to be addressed as ‘Lieutenant’, but the speaker is a very old friend, a former lover, who would normally use his first name. He tells her: You’ve been the best part of the whole trip.’ Her reply. ‘Likewise I’m sure, Lieutenant’ is presumably a light-hearted attempt to avoid over-seriousness creeping into the conversation, or reflects the common embarrassment at responding to a compliment.