Talk:colonel

Is 'colonel' a proper noun? I.e. should it be capitalised 'Colonel'?? The Wikipedia article seems to denote this, but it's not defined here. ChrisWar666 22:34, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

No, one can say "He's a colonel" generically and it isn't a proper noun. It's only capitalized if used as a title, such as "I need to speak with Colonel Cathcart." This is similar to "mom," it's not capitalized when the idea, only when used as a name.

Pronunciation

Why the hell is it pronounced kernel, anyway? It doesn't. ..... [....] 58.107.61.162 12:07, 5 July 2007 (UTC)

colonel is pronounced "kernel" because it was originally borrowed from Middle French as "coronell". Around four centuries ago, the English spelling was changed to conform with the Italian, but the old pronunciation based on the French was kept. —Stephen 15:15, 21 April 2008 (UTC)