[PRCo] Was: Feeling a little too hot and humid? Now: Riverspeak

[robert netzlof]

--- John Swindler <j_swindler at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Thought I heard somewhere that it referred to "Mark two" being
> hollered by a 
> crew member positioned at the bow to indicate how much draft the
> boat had.  
> But don't' know how that translates into feet.

>From a 1913 edition of Webster's dictionary:

Twain (?), a. & n. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. tw&emac;gen, masc.
See Two.] Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in
poetry and burlesque. "Children twain." Chaucer. 

The numbers refer to fathoms, 1 fathom = 6 feet

I suspect, but don't know, that the word "twin" is derived from "twain".

Bob Netzlof a/k/a Sweet Old Bob


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