Some armies, including the Russian and the WWII German, also
have a rank of “Colonel General,” and I’ve also heard “Captain
General.” I have always assumed that “general” is an
adjective in these titles, as it is in “general officer.”
However, I’ve never figured out why the order of ranks is different for
general officers than for line and staff officers. Why does “Lieutenant
General” outrank “Major General,” but “Major”
outranks “Lieutenant.”
Herb
From: Assembly for the
Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dick
Veit
Sent: 2009-04-03 14:10
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: General confusion
Peter Fries wrote:
In this context, no one has mentioned an example which my prescriptive self
finds particularly annoying. I have often heard newscasters, when
interviewing the attorney general of some state or of the of federal gov't,
address the person as 'general'.
I've had the same reaction to that form of address, since
general is a following adjective in attorney general and surgeon general, but
it raises a question perhaps someone on the list can answer. Presumably the
military rank of general originated as an adjective (from "general
officer"??). Anyone know how the noun "general" derived from an
earlier adjectival form. Also, in ranks such as brigadier general and
lieutenant general, which term is the modifier?
Dick Veit
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