Wednesday 19 September 2012

Talk like a pirate day

On 19th September it be International Talk Like a Pirate Day - so don't say I didn't be warnin' you!

Avast behind! (but enough about me).

It's important you be fully briefed on the 'arr's and the 'grrr's but if you don't want to be forkin' out for dusty great tomes like How to Speak Pirate: A Treasure Chest of Seafaring Slang (which at least has a likeness of the great Cap'n Jack Sparrer gracing it's cover) wet your whistle now, for here be Talk Like a Pirate Day's official guidelines on how to actually be talkin' like a pirate:
  • Double up on all your adjectives. Pirates never speak of "a big ship", they call it a "great, grand ship!" They never say never, they say "No nay ne'er!"
  • Drop all your "g"'s when you speak and you'll get words like "rowin'", "sailin'" and "fightin'".
  • Dropping all of your "v"'s will get you words like "ne'er", "e'er" and "o'er".
  • Instead of saying "I am", sailors say, "I be". Instead of saying "You are", sailors say, "You be". Instead of saying, "They are", sailors say, "They be". Ne'er speak in anythin' but the present tense!
Me and the Cap'n at the New Brighton Pirate Muster 2011
There likewise be a whole heap of fascinatin' terminology at The Pirates Realm and at Black Bart's Pirate Glossary.
e.g. Dance the Hempen Jig : a hangin'
Jolly Roger : not what you be thinkin' you filthy-minded lubber
Loaded to the gunnells : dead drunk

And those landlubbin' university boffins have even coughed up this handy, if a bit scurvy Pirate Translator.

Go on! Unleash Your Inner Buccaneer

7 comments:

  1. "It's not stealing, it's sharing."

    (did I do that right?)

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    1. Ha ha - on Twitter Somalians seem to be fair game but everyone's being very coy about their own piratical exploits!

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  2. I have also noticed that pirates generally speak with an English (eg, not American or Australian or Canadian) accent, which means that those of us born on the wrong side of the pond have to affect both an accent AND a new vocabulary!

    I'm still laughing at 'avast behind' --- best piratespeak ever!

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    1. I suspect not all pirates were from the west of England so I wouldn't worry about the accent, matey!

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  3. No time for this kind of nonsense. My parrot be missing' 'and I gotta go lookin for 'im

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    1. Have you looked on your left shoulder? *just asking*

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  4. I's love International Talk Like A Pirate Day! Beats International Continance Week pants down. :- )

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