A Dictionary of Epithets and Terms of Address
The professional title of a highranking officer in the British army, or in the American army, air force, or marine corps. He ranks above a colonel. Examples of normal professional use occur in, e.g., Unconditional Surrender, by Evelyn Waugh and The Old Boys, by William Trevor. In the latter the man concerned is also addressed as ‘General’ followed by his last name.
He has long since retired from the army, but exercises his right to be known by the rank he once held. Deliberate misuse of this title is found from time to time. In Ben Jonson’s Alchemist, for example, it is addressed to Face when he appears in a captain’s uniform. In North Dallas Forty, by Peter Gent, a uniformed doorman is told ‘It’s Sunday, general’. The title referred originally to a commissioned officer who was in general charge of an army.
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