Talk Like A Pirate Day

Talk Like a Pirate Day, began in 1995and the holiday was founded by John Baur and Mark Summers after a racquetball game between them during which one of them (they can’t remember who) yelled out “Arrr!” in a cry of pain, according to talklikeapirate.com, the official Web site of the holiday.

The Pirate Alphabet

A: Ehhhhhhh? -- "What's that?"

B: Are -- as in "Be ye ready to surrender?"

C: Si, si! -- To a Spanish pirate, "Yes!"

E: Eeeeee! -- "Maaaaaaaaybe . . . "

I: Aye -- "Yes!"

L: 'Ell -- A destination, as in, "To L with you, matey!"

O: Oh! -- "Oh!"

Q: Queue -- A sailor's pigtail, usually tarred.

R: Arrrrrr! -- A general expression of glee.

T: Tea -- A very inferior substitute for grog.

Y: Why? -- To be said in a grumpy voice when the cap'n gives an order.

Z: Zee -- To a French pirate, "the."

Popular Pirate Slang

• All Hands Hoay! - "All Hands on Deck!", everyone on the ship called to the deck, usually for action
• Avast - "Avast Ye!" from the Dutch term for 'hold fast' and means "Stop and pay attention.", like, "Get a load of this."
• Black Spot - a death threat among pirates made of a black spot or mark on a scrap of paper with more specific detail sometimes written on the other side, referred to in the story, Treasure Island.
• Dance the Hempen Jig - To hang, (rope was often made of hemp fibers)
• Dungbie - rear end
• Go on Account -a tongue-in-cheek description pirates used that compared the act of becoming a pirate to going into business
• Hempen Halter- The hangman's noose.
• Hornswaggle - To cheat or defraud, often of money or belongings, Yosemite Sam knows a lot about it
• Shiver me timbers! - akin to "Blow me down!", an expression of shock or disbelief, believed to come from the sound the ship made when 'shocked' by running aground or hit by a cannon blast.