• SanguinePar
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    24 hours ago

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

    Sailing is mental.

      • SanguinePar
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        148 minutes 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.

        • @[email protected]
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          fedilink
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          140 minutes 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