International Talk Like A Pirate Day

(talklikeapirate.com)

In the category of the best holiday no one knows about, I think this one takes the prize. :)

Anyway, in order to commemorate this event, here is some pirate vocabulary that I got from some site or another. You've still got some time left today to use one or two of these words/phrases...you know, just toss a pirate word casually into one of your sentences. That way, you still get to have fun, and no one will notice so you won't feel stupid. ;) Arrr.

Ok, me buckos. Time to get in me jollyboat and find a landlubber to take a cutlass from. Me crew marooned me on a godforsaken spit of land and in the process, I lost me own in Davy Jones' locker. Arrrgh!

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• Ahoy -- "Hello!"
• Arrg! -- A pirate exclamation.
• Avast! -- "Hey!" Could be used as "Stop that!" or "Who goes there?"
• Belay -- Stop that. "Belay that talk!" would mean "Shut up!"
• Bilge! -- Nonsense, or foolish talk. The bilges of a ship are the lowest parts, inside the hull along the keel. They fill with stinking bilgewater -- or just "bilge."
• Blimey! -- An exclamation of surprise.
• Buccaneer -- A general term for the Caribbean pirates.
• Bucko -- A familiar term. "Me bucko" = "my friend."
• Cat o'nine tails, or just "cat" -- a whip with many lashes, used for flogging. "A taste of the cat" might refer to a full flogging, or just a single blow to "smarten up" a recalcitrant hand.
• Corsair -- A more romantic term for pirate. But still a pirate none the less.
• Cutlass -- A curved sword, like a sabre, but heavier. Traditional pirate weapon. Has only one cutting edge; may or may not have a useful point.
• Davy Jones' locker -- The bottom of the sea.
• Deadlights -- Eyes. "Use yer deadlights, matey!"
• Dead men tell no tales -- Standard pirate excuse for leaving no survivors.
• Doubloon -- A Spanish gold coin. At different times, it was worth either 4 or 16 silver pesos, or "pieces of eight."
• Piece of eight -- A Spanish silver coin worth one peso or 8 "reales." It was sometimes literally cut into eight pieces, each worth one real.
• Gangway! -- Move. "Get out of my way!"
• Grog -- Generally, any alcoholic drink. Specifically, rum diluted with water to make it go farther.
• Gun -- A cannon.
• Flogging -- Punishment by caning, or by whipping with the cat.
• Jack Ketch -- The hangman. To dance with Jack Ketch is to hang.
• Jack Tar, or tar -- A sailor.
• Jollyboat -- A small but happy craft, perhaps even one that is a little dinghy.
• Jolly Roger -- The pirates' skull-and-crossbones flag. It was an invitation to surrender, with the implication that those who surrendered would be treated well. A red flag indicated "no quarter."
• Keelhaul -- Punishment by dragging under the ship, from one side to the other. The victim of a keelhauling would be half-drowned, or worse, and lacerated by the barnacles that grew beneath the ship. Not a pleasant thing.
• Lad, lass -- A way to address someone younger than you.
• Landlubber, or just lubber -- A non-sailor. A landsman.
• Maroon -- A fairly common punishment for violation of a pirate ship's articles, or offending her crew. The victim was left on a deserted coast (or, of course, an island) with little in the way of supplies. That way, no one could say that the unlucky pirate had actually been killed by his former brethren.
• Me -- A piratical way to say "my."
• Me hearties -- Typical way for a pirate leader to address his crew or friends.
• Matey -- A piratical way to address someone in a cheerful, if not necessarily friendly, fashion.
• On the Account -- The piratical life. A man who went "on the account" was turning pirate.
• Rope's end -- another term for flogging. "Ye'll meet the rope's end for that, me bucko!"
• Sail ho! -- "I see a ship!" The sail, of course, is the first part of a ship visible over the horizon.
• Salmagundi -- A heavily seasoned buccaneer cold salad that helped to fight scurvy. Usually consisted of salted meats such as beef, pork, fish, and/or turtle; pickled vegetables, onions, tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, olives, mangoes, and/or apples.
• Scuppers -- Openings along the edges of a ship's deck that allow water on deck to drain back to the sea rather than collecting in the bilges. "Scupper that!" is an expression of anger or derision: "Throw that overboard!"
• Scurvy -- (1) A deficiency disease which often afflicted sailors; it was caused by lack of vitamin C. (2) A derogatory adjective suitable for use in a loud voice, as in "Ye scurvy dogs!"
• Shiver me timbers! -- An expression of surprise or strong emotion. Most likely a work of fiction.
• Sink me! -- An expression of surprise.
• Splice the mainbrace -- To have a drink. Or, perhaps, several drinks.
• Swab -- A disrespectful term for a seaman. "Man that gun, ye cowardly swabs!"
• Walk the plank -- A piratical execution. The walker, usually blindfolded, bound hands, or both, is forced to walk along a plank laid over the ship's side, to fall or be pushed into the water below. This practice seems to be a total invention; it first appeared in 19th-century fiction, long after the great days of piracy.
• Wench -- Generally, any woman. Specifically, a serving girl or barmaid in a pub or tavern.
• Yo-ho-ho -- A very piratical thing to say, whether it actually means anything or not.