A Sea of Words: "The mercantile style or dialect. Altumalcant is the language of petty traders and tars. It derives from the Latin word altum, "the deep," i.e. the sea." (p. 83)
"'Boat your oars,' said Jack. 'Clap on to the halliard — no, the halliard. God's death — haul away. Bear a hand, Stephen. Belay. Catch a couple of turns round the kevel — the kevel.'
"The scow gave a violent lurch. Jack dropped all, scrambled forward, caught two turns round the kevel and slid back to the tiller. The sail filled, he brought the wind a little abaft the beam, and the scow headed out to sea.
"'You are cursed snappish tonight, Jack,' said Stephen. 'How do you expect me to understand your altumal cant, without pondering on it? I do not expect you to understand medical jargon, without giving you time to consider the etymology, for all love.'
"'Not to know the odds between a halliard and a sheet, after all these years at sea: it passes human understanding,' said Jack." --Patrick O'Brian, The Fortune of War, p. 272
A Sea of Words: "The mercantile style or dialect. Altumal cant is the language of petty traders and tars. It derives from the Latin word altum, "the deep," i.e. the sea." (p. 83)
"'Boat your oars,' said Jack. 'Clap on to the halliard — no, the halliard. God's death — haul away. Bear a hand, Stephen. Belay. Catch a couple of turns round the kevel — the kevel.'
"The scow gave a violent lurch. Jack dropped all, scrambled forward, caught two turns round the kevel and slid back to the tiller. The sail filled, he brought the wind a little abaft the beam, and the scow headed out to sea.
"'You are cursed snappish tonight, Jack,' said Stephen. 'How do you expect me to understand your altumal cant, without pondering on it? I do not expect you to understand medical jargon, without giving you time to consider the etymology, for all love.'
"'Not to know the odds between a halliard and a sheet, after all these years at sea: it passes human understanding,' said Jack."
--Patrick O'Brian, The Fortune of War, p. 272