# lieutenant, left is right
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lieutenant-left-is-right/139841
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 1, 2002, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lieutenant-left-is-right/139841 "2002-12-01T22:14:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2002, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lieutenant-left-is-right/139841/1 "2002-12-01T22:14:05Z")
Americans pronounce it _lew-ten-ant_. Canadians pronounce it _left-ten-ant_. I assume Canadians are with the Brits when we differ from Americans. How did the two North American English speaking populations differ so fundamentally on the pronunciatian of this common military rank?
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### Author:  [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2002, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lieutenant-left-is-right/139841/2 "2002-12-01T22:22:33Z")
I don’t know.
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### Author:  [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2002, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lieutenant-left-is-right/139841/3 "2002-12-01T22:25:56Z")
Lobsang is right.
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### Author:  [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2002, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lieutenant-left-is-right/139841/4 "2002-12-01T22:30:48Z")
Check out the [Mavens’](http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20000107) explanation.
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2002, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lieutenant-left-is-right/139841/5 "2002-12-01T22:34:48Z")
As for the question of the Canadian usage (which is not monolothically “leftenant” in my experience) - well, Canada inherited its military traditions from the Brits, so the pronunciation would carry forward, I would assume.
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### Author:  [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2002, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lieutenant-left-is-right/139841/6 "2002-12-02T00:38:58Z")
While this is an oversimplification, Bill Bryson’s book on the development of the English language, _The Mother Tongue_, suggests that when Americans and Britons (and Canadians) pronounce the same word differently, it is because the American pronunciation reflects the pronunciation of the word in the mid-eighteenth century. It may be that in the 1750s a junior officer in the British army was a lew-tenant, and that the left-tenant pronunciation came into use after the American pattern had been well established.
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### Author:  [@Yeah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeah)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2002, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lieutenant-left-is-right/139841/7 "2002-12-02T00:58:29Z")
Isn’t lieutenant French for place holder?
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2002, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lieutenant-left-is-right/139841/8 "2002-12-02T01:44:27Z")
**Spavined Gelding** , that’s not the view taken in the Mavens link, posted by **JeffB**. They give examples of the “leftenant” pronunciation cited in the early 18th century, with spellings suggesting that pronunciation from the 14th century.
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### Author:  [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2002, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lieutenant-left-is-right/139841/9 "2002-12-02T02:57:21Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Northern Piper \*
> \*\ ***Spavined Gelding** , that’s not the view taken in the Mavens link, posted by **JeffB**. They give examples of the “leftenant” pronunciation cited in the early 18th century, with spellings suggesting that pronunciation from the 14th century. \*\*
**Piper** , like I said–May be.
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### Author:  [@RobertTB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobertTB)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2002, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lieutenant-left-is-right/139841/10 "2002-12-02T03:31:38Z")
I was under the impression that ‘lef-tenant’ was referring to a 2nd Lt , and ‘lew-tenant’ was referring to a 1st Lt. (higher grade then 2nd Lt.)