tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post5346320877955092304..comments2024-03-27T03:19:11.216-04:00Comments on Assistant Village Idiot: Etymology of Military RanksAssistant Village Idiothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-86879912996454925412011-09-05T20:49:22.291-04:002011-09-05T20:49:22.291-04:00You could look it up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...You could look it up.<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drum_Major<br /><br />Also, once a phrase has been imported into English, subsequent changes follow English rules, rather than the grammar of its original language. This has created some oddities in Greek or Latin phrases which came into English centuries ago.Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-2939327847707871662011-09-05T19:45:36.762-04:002011-09-05T19:45:36.762-04:00A drum major was also a military rank or position ...A drum major was also a military rank or position long ago. If major is an adjective as it is in sergeant major or sergeants major, that would leave the plural of drum major to be drums major which makes no sense. I believe the word major in these cases means "leader" in a broad sense instead of the "commissioned officer" sense. Also, with master, staff and first sergeant the adjective always comes first. Why should it suddenly come second in the case of sergeant major.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-59288191259640221592009-05-03T07:07:00.000-04:002009-05-03T07:07:00.000-04:00Erik,
Originally the ranks were Sergeant Major Ge...Erik,<br /><br />Originally the ranks were Sergeant Major General and Lieutenant Colonel General. A one time rank was Captain General. Given time and the opportunity things do tend to become simpler after a period of complication. As witness automobiles, airplanes, and English grammarmythusmagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10458869083534878283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-5426018291386131822009-05-01T14:35:00.000-04:002009-05-01T14:35:00.000-04:00Try: Field Grade: Captain, Lieutenant, Sergeant. ...Try: Field Grade: Captain, Lieutenant, Sergeant. Company Grade: Colonel, Major, Sergeant Major. Flag Grade: General, Lieutenant General, Sergeant-Major General (shortened to Major General).<br /><br />Thank you, Napoleon.<br /><br />BTW, that was one of the mil-history questions I used to ask my ROTC cadets back when I was a cadre member (if a Major outranks a Lt, why does a Lt Gen outrank a MajGen?) -cpcold pizzahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12358492312125897793noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-86482283669116467242009-05-01T11:34:00.000-04:002009-05-01T11:34:00.000-04:00Thanks.Thanks.lelianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-530357253890626502009-05-01T10:19:00.000-04:002009-05-01T10:19:00.000-04:00This is an interesting subject.
I've always thou...This is an interesting subject. <br /><br />I've always thought of "Private" in the context of the US's history of having an army composed of citizen soldiers: private = private citizen, as opposed to career military.<br /><br />Also odd that a Major ranks a Lieutenant, but a Lieutenant General ranks a Major General.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12644557735209287031noreply@blogger.com