# lieutenant as pronounced in the UK

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lieutenant-as-pronounced-in-the-uk/558632
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 28, 2010, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lieutenant-as-pronounced-in-the-uk/558632 "2010-10-28T07:23:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![AllFreedomUnlessDefyingScience](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@AllFreedomUnlessDefyingScience](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllFreedomUnlessDefyingScience)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2010, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lieutenant-as-pronounced-in-the-uk/558632/1 "2010-10-28T07:23:03Z")

</div>

Does anyone know how this French loan-word got to be pronounced LEF-TEN-ENT in the UK, instead of the way we pronounce it in the U.S.?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2010, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lieutenant-as-pronounced-in-the-uk/558632/2 "2010-10-28T07:35:43Z")

</div>

[Here ya go.](http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/?date=20000107)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![AllFreedomUnlessDefyingScience](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@AllFreedomUnlessDefyingScience](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllFreedomUnlessDefyingScience)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2010, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lieutenant-as-pronounced-in-the-uk/558632/3 "2010-10-28T07:53:08Z")

</div>

Thanks! I shouldn’t speculate but I bet the American pronunciation was fixed during the Revolutionary war when we had so much interaction with the French.