What does the society mean when using the term "Rank and File"?

by usualusername 5 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  usualusername

  I get the feeling "Rank and File" is an insult but am unsure.
  
  I think I recent Watchtower Lawyer used it last week.
  
  What does the expression mean in the real world?
  
  Cheers
  
  UUN
• 

  00DAD

  rank and file

  noun

  : the individuals who constitute the body of an organization, society, or nation as distinguished from the leaders

  From the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
• 

  mrsjones5

  "rank and File" is actually a military term:

  American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms:

  rank and file

  Top Home > Library > Literature & Language > Idioms

  Followers, the general membership, as in This new senator really appeals to the rank and file in the labor unions. This expression comes from the military, where a rank denotes soldiers standing side by side in a row, and file refers to soldiers standing behind one another. The first recorded figurative use of this term was in 1860.

  Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/rank-and-file#ixzz1yTqFdW8k
• 

  blondie

  *** w71 12/15 p. 754 par. 28 Theocratic Organization with Which to Move Forward Now ***Is that visible earthly organization eager to do that grand work? Look! The appointed elders and overseers of the congregations are actively working in that behalf. The ministerial servants of the congregations are cooperating in that behalf. The rank and file of the congregations, the dedicated men and women and their children, are taking part in the work, both from house to house and publicly.

  ----------------

  Notice how the WTS starts from the TOP down. It is an occasional term applied to jws in print but also to non-jws in other religious organizations. The whole idea in both is they are not the "leaders."
• 

  kurtbethel

  Peons. Grunts. Serfs. Mushrooms. Dupes.

  Nothing pretty about it. The gloves are off now.
• 

  apostatethunder

  Losers.