# Intntl. Talk Like a Pirate Day, Sept. 19 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 18, 2007, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intntl-talk-like-a-pirate-day-sept-19/419633 "2007-09-18T18:18:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intntl-talk-like-a-pirate-day-sept-19/419633/1 "2007-09-18T18:18:02Z")
Wait for it… ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intntl-talk-like-a-pirate-day-sept-19/419633/2 "2007-09-18T18:27:23Z")
Arrrr!!! Oops. It just slipped out, honest! 😃 drink up me hearties, yo ho! ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intntl-talk-like-a-pirate-day-sept-19/419633/3 "2007-09-18T20:51:36Z")
I’m always kind of disturbed to think that “National Talk like a Pirate Day” is also my birthday… ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intntl-talk-like-a-pirate-day-sept-19/419633/4 "2007-09-18T20:54:28Z")
Yarr, I nearly be forgettin’ that, I be. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intntl-talk-like-a-pirate-day-sept-19/419633/5 "2007-09-18T21:11:50Z")
Am I the only person here who has said “avast” in its original context? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intntl-talk-like-a-pirate-day-sept-19/419633/6 "2007-09-18T21:16:09Z")
[QUOTE=Robot Arm] Am I the only person here who has said “avast” in its original context? [/QUOTE] You’d have to define “here”. Posters to this thread who are online now? Of course, we also have to define “now”. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intntl-talk-like-a-pirate-day-sept-19/419633/7 "2007-09-18T21:37:55Z")
I meant on this board. Depending on your line of work, it’s not a word that comes up very often. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intntl-talk-like-a-pirate-day-sept-19/419633/8 "2007-09-18T21:55:40Z")
Did anyone else see the inventor of “Talk Like a Pirate Day” appear on _Wife Swap_ recently? ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intntl-talk-like-a-pirate-day-sept-19/419633/9 "2007-09-18T22:09:24Z")
Yarr! I be usin’ my special [keyboard](http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c340/davemarkowitz/pirates/pirate_keyboard.jpg) tomorrow. [sub]Avast ye![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intntl-talk-like-a-pirate-day-sept-19/419633/10 "2007-09-18T23:25:47Z")
[QUOTE=Robot Arm] I meant on this board. [/QUOTE] You mean like, “Avast being a smart ass there, Carnivorous Plant!” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intntl-talk-like-a-pirate-day-sept-19/419633/11 "2007-09-19T04:21:45Z")
Arrrr, 'tis after midnight here, so it’s ITLAPD already, ye scurvy dogs! Fetch me an ale, ye poxy wench, and I’ll sing ye a sea chanty like ye’ve never heard!!! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intntl-talk-like-a-pirate-day-sept-19/419633/12 "2007-09-19T04:22:58Z")
[QUOTE=Robot Arm] I meant on this board. Depending on your line of work, it’s not a word that comes up very often. [/QUOTE] So tell us the story then, ye lubber, and be quick about it. Arrrr! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intntl-talk-like-a-pirate-day-sept-19/419633/13 "2007-09-19T05:30:51Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] So tell us the story then, ye lubber, and be quick about it. Arrrr! [/QUOTE] We were setting the main topmast stays’l; about 8 crew on the halyard and me trying to keep the sail from getting caught on the chimney or the dories on the roof of the galley. Well, part of the sail was caught. “Avast” means “whatever you’re doing, stop right now.” Now, clew up on the fore t’gallant or you’ll be swabbin’ the deck from the fo’c’sle to the skullery! ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intntl-talk-like-a-pirate-day-sept-19/419633/14 "2007-09-19T05:43:04Z")
I am sad. I used to be great at talking like a pirate, but a couple of years ago, I hit some kind of mental funk, and since then, whenever I try, it quickly devolves into leprechaun. I am now limited to single words and short phrases. On a side note, this summer I was a camp counsellor in northern California, and my kids all happened to be Chinese (they all spoke Mandarin as their first language at home). So I had them teach me a few words, including how to count to ten. This quickly turned into a joke: Me: “Hey kids! How does the pirate say the number two in Chinese?” Kids: ::blank stares:: Me:ARRRR!!! Also, check out McSweeney’s on the subject: [http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2000/06/14pirates.html](http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2000/06/14pirates.html) ---
**Author:** ![LemmeOut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5f9b8f/32.png) [@LemmeOut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LemmeOut)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intntl-talk-like-a-pirate-day-sept-19/419633/15 "2007-09-19T05:55:45Z")
**bump** , me too!! Happy Birthday!! Arrrr! ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intntl-talk-like-a-pirate-day-sept-19/419633/16 "2007-09-19T06:02:07Z")
[QUOTE=Randy Seltzer] I am sad. I used to be great at talking like a pirate, but a couple of years ago, I hit some kind of mental funk, and since then, whenever I try, it quickly devolves into leprechaun. I am now limited to single words and short phrases. On a side note, this summer I was a camp counsellor in northern California, and my kids all happened to be Chinese (they all spoke Mandarin as their first language at home). So I had them teach me a few words, including how to count to ten. This quickly turned into a joke: Me: “Hey kids! How does the pirate say the number two in Chinese?” Kids: ::blank stares:: Me:ARRRR!!! Also, check out McSweeney’s on the subject: [http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2000/06/14pirates.html](http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2000/06/14pirates.html) [/QUOTE] That first sentence was gold. Pirate-leprechaun interface is one of he most underused comedy bits out there. Well, besides Amish ninjas, and radioactive Mormons that is. Bush has promised to force economic sanctions, and will pursue strategic air strikes, if Gargamel doesn’t reign in his uranium enrichment cauldron usage. Azrael is _not_ helping matters. If Yohan and the Israelis keep up the diplomatic pressure, then Ambassador Smurf is going to have to tip his hand eventually. Good thing that Brainy Smurf is manning the self-destruct mechanism just across the border. You know which border. I’m not that upset with him having to be detonated though, he was always kind of a dick. Besides, Smurfette was always most interested in Vainy smurf, who we all know had kind of a “bear daddy” thing for Papa smurf anyways. That brainy smurf pisses me off some times. I’d like to smurf him in the smurf once or twice. I’m just hoping that violent-vengeance smurf shows up sooner, rather than later. Even the peaceful smurfs demand blood every once in a while. Yarr! ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intntl-talk-like-a-pirate-day-sept-19/419633/17 "2007-09-19T08:39:40Z")
Avast, ye swarthy dogs! Oh, and happy birthday, **bump**. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Perro\_Fumando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e9c0ed/32.png) [@El\_Perro\_Fumando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Perro_Fumando)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intntl-talk-like-a-pirate-day-sept-19/419633/18 "2007-09-19T10:19:07Z")
I teach at a school who’s mascot is a pirate. Today should be fun. ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intntl-talk-like-a-pirate-day-sept-19/419633/19 "2007-09-19T10:22:25Z")
I just got my first “Arrr!” at work just now. Seriously. And they wonder why I prefer to work the night shift away from people. Good luck today normal people! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intntl-talk-like-a-pirate-day-sept-19/419633/20 "2007-09-19T13:14:11Z")
[QUOTE=ScareyFaerie] Avast, ye swarthy dogs! [/QUOTE] Swarthy? Perhaps a review of Piratical Terms is in order. Avast, also 'vast. To cease and desist. “'Vast trolling, NoClueBoy!” Pox faced Whoreson. My good and honest friend. “That Pox faced Whoreson Carnivorousplant always makes interesting posts in Star Trek threads.” Mutinous Dogs. Posters in a particular thread. “These mutinous dogs won’t be givin’ a cite!” AAAAARRRRR! Colloquial English: “Hey!” British English : “Oi!” Yiddish: “Oye Gevalt!” Southern American English: “I beg your pardon.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intntl-talk-like-a-pirate-day-sept-19/419633.md?page=2)