• SanguinePar
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      321 days ago

      But Bo’s’n uses one more character than Bosun?

      Sailing is mental.

        • SanguinePar
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          121 days ago

          No :-)

          But it still doesn’t make sense for Boatswain to become Bosun to become Bo’s’n.

          Bos’n maybe, but the apostrophe between o and s isn’t doing anything.

          • @optissima@lemmy.ml
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            221 days ago

            Now that I look at it it could’ve been used as syllable indicator, but I’d guess that Bosun and Bo’s’n were developed separately in regions with different languages where each spelling was easier for local populations

            • SanguinePar
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              121 days ago

              Maybe yeah. There’s probably a good reason somewhere, I just don’t get it. All good 👍