During a dinner at the captain's table fairly early in the nautical adventures of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, a chaplain asks why dog watches are so named.
Quote:
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"Why," said Stephen, "it is because they are curtailed, of course."
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It takes awhile for the joke to sink in but once it does, the company finds it monstrously funny, particularly Captain Aubrey. But what I particularly love is that the joke keeps popping up in other books because Jack Aubrey thinks it's the wittiest thing he's ever heard and often repeats it. I'm currently on
The Commodore, 17th in the series, and Jack is still laughing about it, which makes me laugh, too.