Some of us love Christmas, or some of us love Halloween. However, what is a Pirates favorite holiday? Why international Talk Like a Pirate Day of course! Talk like a Pirate Day was September 19 and was a perfect day to drink some rum, dress up like Jack Sparrow and put your pirate language to the test! If you missed out on it, don’t worry there is always next year! Now you have even more time to walk the plank and see what this day is all about.
Origins
On June 6, 1995, when John Baur and Mark Summers, known as Ol’ Chumbucket and Cap’n Slappy played racquetball. The story says one of them got injured during the game and reacted with an outburst of “Arrr!”. Out of respect for the observance of World War II’s D-Day on the 6th of June, the soon-to-be world-renowned pirates decided to choose Summers then wife’s birthday, September 19, to celebrate pirate lingo.
At first, Baur and Summers celebrated Talk Like a Pirate Day as an inside joke between two friends. But a few years later they sent a letter to Dave Barry, a syndicated humor columnist, who liked the idea and released it into the world. Now, here we are years later celebrating Talk Like a Pirate Day everywhere!
Pirate Lingo
The Pirates aboard aren’t going to leave you hanging! Ye mateys put together a list of the most commonly used terms to make ye look like a professional amongst ye fellow skallywags!
- bilge rat – an insult referring to a rat that lives in the worst place on the ship – the bilge
- landlubber – a person unfamiliar with the sea or sailing
- avast – stop; cease and pay attention
- shiver me timbers – expresses shock, surprise or annoyance
- ahoy – hello
- aye – yes
- aye aye – used by sailors to confirm they understood the orders
- matey – a companion, a close friend
- booty – treasure
- buccaneer – pirate or free sailor known in the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries
- feed the fish – about to die
- Jacob’s ladder – a rope ladder
- old salt – experienced pirate
- walk the plank – force someone to walk off a plank on a ship; to accept the consequences
- lad, lass, lassie – a younger person
- bucko – friend
- cat o’nine tails – a whip with nine strands
- dead men tell no tales – leave no survivors
- yo-ho-ho – an expression of delight
- weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen! – pull up the anchor and get the ship sailing
Easy peasy right, it sure should be because you now have a year to practice!? Practice up and come test ye skills on the Royal Conquest in the mean time!
Other ways to celebrate
Pirates are known for having fun, so you shouldn’t be surprised when we say there’s more you can do to celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day than just talking like a pirate!
- Watch a fun pirate themed movie – The choices are endless here, but we highly recommend Pirates of The Caribbean because who doesn’t love Jack Sparrow!
- Dress like a Pirate – Grab your bandanas, gold hoop earrings, and a parrot to put on your shoulder and you’ll be looking ye best yet!
- Take a Ride on The Royal Conquest – What better way to celebrate than to put ye pirate language and dress to the test aboard ye favorite Pirate Ship, with ye best group of Skallywags yet!
If you celebrated Talk Like a Pirate Day this year, what fun activities did you do? We love hearing new ideas to help make the holiday better every year! Posted on September 23, 2020
