POINTERS ON HOW TO TALK LIKE A PIRATE! Aaaaar!

 

General Mannerisms

• Say ‘Aaaaar a lot.
• Curse a lot but don’t use conventional swear words as this betrays a lack of imagination.
• Use the present tense and say ‘I be’ rather than ‘I am’ and use me instead of I whenever possible eg. Got me a terrible snivvle and I be feelin’ loike a rat in a sack.
• When addressing others use ‘yer’ and yar instead of you and your, and add some insult while yer at it. Eg ‘Ya filthy robbin’ scumbag’, or Yer be like a boil on a bilge rat’s bum’.
• Leave out any unnecessary consonants.

SOME PIRATE WORDS & SAYINGS TO PRACTISE:

Aaaaaaarrhh
Pirates say this a lot to indicate general approval but it doesn’t mean anything, just keep saying it and you’ll be speakin like a pirate – aaaaaaaar

Avast
Derived from hold fast – stop and pay attention

Ahoy
Sailors greeting used by pirates- hello

Aye
Yes – pirates and seamen usually say it twice – aye aye

Begad
Derived from By God

Bilge
Nonsense – the bilges are the lowest part of a sailing ship where everything foul and unpleasant accumulates!

Bilge Rat
An insult (obviously) but usually friendly

Booty
Anything worth purloining – treasure or stolen goods

Buccaneer
Caribbean pirates or pirates in general.

Cat o nine tails
A vicious whip with nine tails, used more by the kings men than pirates

Davey Jones Locker
Bottom of the sea where drowned pirates and mariners go

Dog
Insult or term of endearment – it’s all the same to pirates!

Fiddlers Green
Pirate Heaven – Assumin that pirates ever get to heaven

Fore
Front end of a pirate’s ship – or any other ship

Grog
Alcoholic drink – usually rum and water

Grub
Food – ship’s provisions were often infested with maggots!

Handsomely
Quickly or a job well done

Hearties
Shipmates or friends

Jolly roger
The famous pirate flag

Keelhaul
A punishment where a sailor is dragged under the ship by a rope – usually fatal due to skin being torn off by barnacles> Again a tradition from the Royal Navy rather than a pirate tradition.

Lass
Young woman – usually a complimentary term

Lily livered
Fainthearted – pirates have to be bold as they are hung if caught

Loaded
Drunk

Marooned
Left on a deserted island as a punishment

No quarter
Surrender will not be accepted

Pieces of eight
Money – Specifically when a coin was cut into eight pieces

purloin
Steal or pilfer

Poop deck
Not the toilets! It was the highest deck on larger ships

Poxy
Carrying an infectious disease

Rum
That drink and also an adjective meaning odd or strange

Salt or sea dog
Experienced sailor or pirate

Scurvy
A disease caused by vitamin C deficiency, and a general insult as in you scurvy dog

Shark bait
A threat to enemies – to turn them into shark bait

Shiver me timbers
An expression of surprise you can use when you get bored with saying aaaaar

Swag
Stolen booty or treasure – used by all thieves not just pirates

Swashbucklin’
Fighting at sea, either other pirates or the kings men

Walk the plank
Walk off the end of a plank into the sea to drown

Wench
Unflattering word for girl or woman

Yo ho ho
Pirate laughter

 

Well me hearties ere’s til next year Araaaar!!