Why not Chief in command or Commander of chiefs or similar?
The sentence basically means Commander in biggest or Commander in most important. It's a strange structure.
Why not Chief in command or Commander of chiefs or similar?
The sentence basically means Commander in biggest or Commander in most important. It's a strange structure.
12 Comments
FuglyDuck@lemmy.world · 36 pts · 2y
Commander in Chief actually goes back to the English Civil War (where Charles Howard was commissioned as lieutenant-general and commander-in-chief); and 'in chief' goes back to earlier french, basically denoting a feudal landholding that was given directly by the king.
Keep in mind that a Commander in Chief- while frequently the head of state; historically wasn't always so. Colonial or Regional Governors were given command of military forces in their areas of authority- that is to say, commissioned as commanders with sole authority over all forces directly by the king. that is to say, they were commissioned as commanders in chief.
bionicjoey@lemmy.ca · 24 pts · 2y
A lot of military rank terms derive from French. In French grammar, the noun modifier often goes after the thing it is modifying rather than before.
Crampon@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 2y
Like Mont Blanc. Mountain white.
Origin of the title explains a lot.
bionicjoey@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 2y
Mont Blanc, white mountain
Montréal, royal mountain
Montagne Russe, Rollercoaster (literally "Russian Mountain" because the first roller coasters were invented in Russia)
litchralee@sh.itjust.works · -4 pts · 2y
Not necessarily military nor French, the Wikipedia page on postpositive adjectives has more examples of words which flip the normal ordering.
bionicjoey@lemmy.ca · 6 pts · 2y
From the page you linked:
litchralee@sh.itjust.works · 0 pts · 2y
Yes, we are in firm agreement: that page offers more examples for the OP to peruse, some French and some not. My favorite is "attorney general", with more to choose from.
HerbalGamer@sh.itjust.works · 7 pts · 2y
Chief Commander sounds so much better, although it also brings to mind the image of a stoner superhero: Kief Commander
DharmaCurious@startrek.website · 4 pts · 2y
This would make an excellent recurring story on American dad wherein Jeff is secretly a Superman à la quailman from Doug.
frankenswine@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 2y
might be a translation from spanish (not that it clears anything up): comandante en jefe
afunkysongaday@lemmy.world · -2 pts · 2y
It's slang for military butt sex.
betterdeadthanreddit@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 2y
Thought that was just enlistment in general.