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From: cash@convex.com (Peter Cash)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Army customs...saluting
Message-ID: <1991Mar8.023526.10578@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 8 Mar 91 02:35:26 GMT
References: <1991Mar4.212815.9865@cbnews.att.com> <1991Mar6.042927.25702@cbnews.att.com>
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From: cash@convex.com (Peter Cash)
In article <1991Mar6.042927.25702@cbnews.att.com> bcstec!shuksan!major@uunet.UU.NET (Mike Schmitt) writes:
>...
>  Trivia:  The junior always walks on the left of the senior.  The origin
>  of 'lieutenant' come from 'left attendant'.  In the "old days", once an
>  officer drew his sword (usually right-handed) his right was, of course,
>  protected by his sword.  However, his left was unprotected - therefore
>  a "left attendant" was required to protect his left.

That's a nice story, and may be true for the English "leftenant". However,
the American "lieutenant" comes from the French, and means "someone who
acts instead (or in the place of) another" (lieu = instead of; tenant = one
who holds). 

Who does the lieutenant act for? Why, the capitain, I guess :*)


--
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             |      Die Welt ist alles, was Zerfall ist.     |
Peter Cash   |       (apologies to Ludwig Wittgenstein)      |cash@convex.com
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