Mark Twain passage of boat, was a measure on the sounding line. Twain is an archaic term for "two", as in "The veil of the temple was rent in twain." The riverboatman's cry was "mark twain" or, more fully, "by the mark twain", meaning "according to the mark [on the line], [the depth is] two [fathoms]", that is, "The water is deep and it is safe to pass." Twain said that his famous pen name was not entirely his invention. In "Life on the Mississippi", he wrote: Captain Isaiah Sellers was not of literary turn or capacity, but he used to jot
Jew (word) following the Greek version, is "Iudaeus", and from these sources the term passed to other European languages. The Old French "giu", earlier "juieu", had elided (dropped) the letter "d" from the Latin "Iudaeus". The Middle English word "Jew" derives from Old English where the word is attested as early as 1000 in various forms, such as "Iudeas", "Gyu", "Giu", "Iuu", "Iuw", "Iew". The Old English name is derived from Old French. The modern French term is "juif". Most European languages have retained the letter "d" in the word for Jew. Etymological equivalents are in use in other languages, e.g., "Jude"