Piece of Eight

[DThomasTreadwell]

The Annual Talk Like a Pirate Day is coming up on September 19. Seems it's not only an American holiday, as it has now migrated to the U.K. thanks to the Southampton Boat Show, which provided this press release:


PIRATE PHENOMONEN SET TO PEAK NEXT WEEK AS ‘TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY' CAPTURES UK IMAGINATION

14 September 2006

Tuesday 19 September, launching at the Southampton Boat Show

First we had Sienna Miller and Kate Moss in the now ubiquitous McQueen skull print scarf, then came along Pirates of the Caribbean, Paperchase brought out its skull and cross bones range, now the BBC are airing their new squash-buckling series Blackbeard. Pirates have never been so popular.

Launching next week at the Southampton Boat Show, also sporting a new Treasure Island theme, is ‘Talk Like A Pirate Day’. Originating in the US, the annual day has made it across to our shores, with people the length and breadth of the country adopting their best pirate accent.

Previously the preserve of dedicated pirate fans, organiser of the UK ‘Talk Like A Pirate Day’ Mad Cap'n Tom has this year been inundated with requests for information about the Day. Schools and offices across the country are gearing up for a day of pirate fun and festivities, all buoyed on by the pirate craze sweeping across the UK.

Commenting on the pirate phenomenon, Mad Cap'n Tom added: “The reaction to ‘Talk Like A Pirate Day’ this year had been massive, we’ve heard from people all over the country who are arranging pirate parties, pirate days in their offices and generally getting in to the swing of all things pirate.

“The additional focus on pirates this summer has definitely helped boost interest in ‘Talk Like A Pirate Day’, we hope to galvanise the nation and spread the pirate word.”

Offering advice on how to talk like a pirate, Cap'n Tom said: “Make sure you always double up your adjectives, and you'll be bountifully bombastic with your phrasing. 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’.”


How to talk like a pirate

• Double up on all your adjectives and you'll be bountifully bombastic with your phrasing. 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!

Hints an' Tips

If it be helpin', start yer sentence wi' a "Arr, me hearty," in a deep, throaty voice — ye'll find that the rest be comin' much easier.

Vocabulary

In which ye'll find words submitted by many pirates o'er the years, an' which comprise a loose piratical dictionary.
• Ahoy: Hey!
• Avast: Stop!
• Aye: Yes
• Black spot: to be 'placin' the black spot' be markin' someone for death
• Booty: treasure
• Buccanneer: 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' this
• 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. A scoundrel.
• Scurvy dog!: 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
• 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

Pirate jokes

• A pirate with an eye patch seemed down at a bar. The bartender asked, "What's wrong?" The pirate replied, "Arrrgh, they wanted me to be a teacher... but I only had one pupil!"

• What did the pirate say to the jokester?

Aye, walk the prank!

• What is a Pirate's favorite movie series?

STARRRRRR WARRRRRRS!

• Where can a pirate with two wooden legs go?

Not very fARRRRR!

• What does a pirate call his Mum?

MotheARRRRRrrrrrggghhh!

• What's a tongue-tied Pirate called?

InARRticulate!

• What is a pirate's favourite planet?

Marrrrrs!

• What did the pirate say when someone asked him if he knew any pirate jokes

Arrrrr you kidding me...

• How do pirates navigate their ships?

With the staaaaaarrrrrs.

• Why does a pirate's phone go beep beep beep beep beep?

Because he left it off the hook!

• How did the pirate know he found land?

He was shore of it!

• Why did the pirate get his phone cut off?

Argh! Cos' he be makin' too many plank calls!

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By the way, if you own the latest version of Sid Meier's Pirates! on PC, there's an Easter Egg awaiting you when you play it on September 19. Enjoy!

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