petty officer

Reader's Digest 5月号の記事 "Humor in Uniform" から引用します。

My dad joined the Navy out of spite. He was a petty officer.

"petty officer" は "petty" の意味からすると階級の低い軍人の様ですが、実際はどの程度なのでしょうか？

・Oxford English Dictionary: a sailor of middle rank in the navy
・Collins Dictionary: A petty officer is an officer of low rank in the navy.: Petty officers are the backbone of a navy.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: a rank in a navy, below the officers but above the ordinary sailors: Chief Petty Officer

単なる兵隊よりちょっと上の軍人ですね。　この記事の面白いのは "out of spite" で海軍に入隊したのにただの "petty officer" だったのですが、 "petty" のニュアンスを辞書で確認します。

・Oxford English Dictionary: (disapproving) caring too much about small and unimportant matters, especially when this is unkind to other people: How could you be so petty?
・Collins Dictionary: If you describe someone's behaviour as petty, you mean that they care too much about small, unimportant things and perhaps that they are unnecessarily unkind.: He was petty-minded and obsessed with detail.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: complaining too much about things that are not important: Don't be so petty!