Yo Ho Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me!

Today, me hearties, be official 'Talk Like A Pirate Day'!


In honor of the most auspicious occasion, I plundered the official Pirate site and be showin' you here my ill gotten booty.  Hopefully ye lubbers be findin' this of use durin' the course of this great grand day.

'tis a Day of grand tradition and great celebration for all and it all began in the mid-1990's, when two Yankees, John Baur (Ol' Chum Bucket) and Mark Summers (Cap'n Slappy), be talkin' like pirates all o'a sudden. 

Now, Ol' Chum Bucket and Cap'n Slappy be decidin' that, to further the noble causes of the sweet trade of piracy, each and every year September 19 be the day when all good souls over the world should be talkin' like pirates. Aarrr!!

Alas, for years, their valiant efforts were gone a-wasted, until they contacted a man by the name of Dave Barry, who be writin' a humor column for the great masses o' landlubbers out yonder like ye sorry lot. Now Master Barry showed his devotion to the great, grand cause by promotin' Pirate Day in 2002 to millions of lubbers across the world from the hot, humid, tropical climes of Miami, to the wild, weary shores of Thunder Bay. From thar, the media across the seven seas carried the story, and it reached every corner of the world!

Here be some wordin' aid for ye sorry sods who need a fine translatin' of proper Pirate Lingo ~

·  Ahoy: Hey!

·  Avast: Stop!

·  Aye: Yes

·  Black spot: to be 'placin' the black spot' be markin' someone for death

·  Booty: treasure

·  Buccaneer: a pirate who be answerin' to no man or blasted government

·  By the Powers!: an exclamation, uttered by Long John Silver in Treasure Island!

·  Cat o' nine tails: whip for floggin' mutineers

·  Corsair: a pirate who be makin' his berth in the Med-...Medi-...that sea 'tween Spain and Africa, aye!

·  Davy Jones' Locker: the bottom o' the sea, where the souls of dead men lie

·  Doubloons: pieces of gold ...

·  Fiddlers Green: the private heaven where pirates be goin' when they die

·  Furner: a ship which be yer own, not one ye steal an' plunder

·  Gentlemen o' fortune: a slightly more positive term fer pirates!

·  Go on the account: to embark on a piratical cruise

·  Grog: a pirate's favorite drink

·  Jack: a flag or a sailor

·  Jolly Roger: the skull and crossbones, the pirate flag!

·  Keelhaul: a truly vicious punishment where a scurvy dog be tied to a rope and dragged along the barnacle-encrusted bottom of a ship. They not be survivin'.

·  Landlubber: "Land-lover," someone not used to life onboard a ship

·  Lass: A woman

·  Lily-livered: faint o' heart

·  Loaded to the Gunwales (pron. gunnels): drunk

·  Matey: A shipmate or a friend

·  Me hearty: a friend or shipmate

·  Me: My

·  Pieces o' eight: pieces o' silver which can be cut into eights to be givin' small change

·  Privateer: a pirate officially sanctioned by a national power

·  Scallywag: A bad person or scoundrel

·  Scurvy dog!: This be a fine insult!

·  Shiver me timbers!: an exclamation of surprise, to be shouted most loud!

·  Son of a Biscuit Eater: a derogatory term indicating a bastard son of a sailor

·  Sprogs: raw, untrained recruits

·  Squadron: a group of ten or less warships

·  Squiffy: a buffoon

·  Swaggy: a scurvy cur's ship what ye be intendin' to loot!

·  Swashbucklin': fightin' and carousin' on the high seas!

·  Sweet trade: the career of piracy

·  Thar: The opposite of "here"

·  Walk the plank: this one be bloody obvious, ye squiffy

·  Wench: a lady, although ye gents not be wantin' to use this around a lady who be stronger than ye

·  Wi' a wannion: wi' a curse, or wi' a vengeance ~ boldly, loudly!

·  Yo-ho-ho: Pirate laughter

Find more about Talk Like A Pirate Day here