In my infinite ignorance, I thought ‘quant’ was the name for clever mathematicians who work for hedge funds. Then I learn better, it’s an English answer to gondoliering. ‘To quant is to pole a boat along; a quant is a long pole used for quanting.’ A safer investment? What do I know, but it certainly sounds more fun and accessible to the less numerate.
Source: Arthur Ransome, Coot Club (London: Jonathan Cape, 2009 (1934)), p. 102
