# When did people start "talking like a pirate?" Is it an Anglo-wide thing? Other languages? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 20, 2015, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-talking-like-a-pirate-is-it-an-anglo-wide-thing-other-languages/731880 "2015-09-20T00:10:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-talking-like-a-pirate-is-it-an-anglo-wide-thing-other-languages/731880/21 "2015-09-21T13:53:14Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > “Arr” isn’t _just_ a shorthand for rhoticism, though. It is actually a word in West Country dialects, meaning “yes”. > > In the UK, the phrase “Oo arr” is a stock part of the “West Country farmer” stereotype. > [@kk\_fusion](#): > > Yes. Speaking with a North German accent with the occasional Low German or nautical expression thrown in will get you recognized as a stereotypical sea captain. What other languages have stereotypical accents or dialects associated with certain occupations? For example, does any other language have a “sound like a doctor” or “sound like a cop” accent? Many older US movies and TV shows give police officers a stereotypical Irish accent, especially if the cops in question are supposed to be NYPD officers, but that stereotype is fading away fast. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-talking-like-a-pirate-is-it-an-anglo-wide-thing-other-languages/731880/22 "2015-09-21T14:25:09Z")
> [@Asympotically\_fat](#): > > What could broadly be called the West Country accent actually covers quite a large area, even into areas which are now thought of as being part of the South-East region. For example the poet Pam Ayres who is one of the most famous people to speak with what is usually perceived as a broad West Country accent is actually from (what is now due to boundary changes) South Oxfordshire, which is much nearer to London than it is to Cornwall. There’s a whole swathe of England, from Norfolk to Cornwall who speak with what could be stereotyped as a typical ‘farmers accent’. I would think a foreigner would find a Bristol accent closer to a Norfolk accent than a Cardiff one, although Cardiff is far closer geographically. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-talking-like-a-pirate-is-it-an-anglo-wide-thing-other-languages/731880/23 "2015-09-21T16:43:50Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > I put Somerset for Bristol above since most people from outside thought it was half Somersetshire and half Gloucestershire ( the town near me now is mostly Suffolk but contains also Essex bits ); but I see that it has been it’s own county since 1374. > I always shoved down Bristol, Glos on forms, since Somerset has a rather rural reputation. > > In a Marxian sense. Bristol, Bristol, so good they named it twice. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-talking-like-a-pirate-is-it-an-anglo-wide-thing-other-languages/731880/24 "2015-09-21T17:17:49Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Bristol, Bristol, so good they named it twice. A nice pair of Bristols… What’s not to like? The taxi’s on its way… ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-talking-like-a-pirate-is-it-an-anglo-wide-thing-other-languages/731880/25 "2015-09-21T20:05:26Z")
Robert Newton always played the same character, essentially, especially the twirling hand gesture which can be seen in many of his movies. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-talking-like-a-pirate-is-it-an-anglo-wide-thing-other-languages/731880/26 "2015-09-21T20:34:58Z")
I think I’ve only seen him in [**Jamaica Inn**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica_Inn_%28film%29) — where he played the exact opposite of a pirate, a revenooer — and he was remarkably restrained, and somewhat parrotlike, compared to Charles Laughton for once over the top playing a Smuggler King. Never cared for Daphne Du Maurier — a woman’s writer — but Miss O’Hara dressed very pretty. Seems the old inn is still [**there**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica_Inn), although the surround looks a bit modernized, just by Brown Willy and the entrenchment of Cardinkam Bun. Now I suppose I’m gonna have to put **Bristol, Bristol.** … ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-talking-like-a-pirate-is-it-an-anglo-wide-thing-other-languages/731880/27 "2015-09-21T20:39:25Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > What other languages have stereotypical accents or dialects associated with certain occupations? For example, does any other language have a “sound like a doctor” or “sound like a cop” accent? Many older US movies and TV shows give police officers a stereotypical Irish accent, especially if the cops in question are supposed to be NYPD officers, but that stereotype is fading away fast. I was just going to post something related: The situation of Character (Pirate) speech genre definition\<–one actor\<–from someplace particular is exactly paralleled with: Vampire\<–Bela Lugosi (Lugosi Bela)\<–Hungary. That’ sit: every “I vant to suck your blood” (with equivalent stress on vant, suck, and blood) is nothing more than a Hungarian accent. I’m not sure if he was from Transylvania (part of Hungary for centuries, now in Romania). My father is from Transylvania, and I still sort of remember being told/noticing he even has an accent, and only later having the coin drop about Dracula. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-talking-like-a-pirate-is-it-an-anglo-wide-thing-other-languages/731880/28 "2015-09-21T20:40:24Z")
I, for one, had heard the Wurzels’ “[Combine Harvester](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9rQmyAxS3U)” many times before I realized that they were actually just West Country folk singing in their natural accent, and not Americans doing a pirate bit. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-talking-like-a-pirate-is-it-an-anglo-wide-thing-other-languages/731880/29 "2015-09-21T20:42:00Z")
> [@mascaroni](#): > > A nice pair of Bristols… What’s not to like? > > The taxi’s on its way… I sense Cockney rhyme, but can’t make it out… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-talking-like-a-pirate-is-it-an-anglo-wide-thing-other-languages/731880/30 "2015-09-21T20:48:07Z")
My friends and I talked like pirates occasionally in the late-'70s/early-'80s. I think it happened because a couple of us had seen the Robert Newton version of _Treasure Island_. There’s a scene where they’re having a service for some dead crewmen, and everyone repeats ‘Amen.’ The last one was Robert Newton (as Long John Silver), who says, ‘Arrr-men.’ We thought it was pretty hilarious, so it became a phrase with us. Once ‘Arr-men’ was established, talking like pirates came naturally. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-talking-like-a-pirate-is-it-an-anglo-wide-thing-other-languages/731880/31 "2015-09-21T20:59:42Z")
What about the stereotypical US Christian Fundamentalist/Baptist/Pentecostal preacher “accent” that you see in some movies and TV shows? It sounds like it could be a combination of a Southern and/or Appalachian accent (historical strongholds of Fundamentalism) combined with some public speaking training as well as a desire to be highly dramatic. Reverend Lovejoy on _The Simpsons_ has this to some extent. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-talking-like-a-pirate-is-it-an-anglo-wide-thing-other-languages/731880/32 "2015-09-21T21:38:54Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > What about the stereotypical US Christian Fundamentalist/Baptist/Pentecostal preacher “accent” that you see in some movies and TV shows? It sounds like it could be a combination of a Southern and/or Appalachian accent (historical strongholds of Fundamentalism) combined with some public speaking training as well as a desire to be highly dramatic. Reverend Lovejoy on _The Simpsons_ has this to some extent. I’m pretty sure that NOBODY talks that way naturally. That’s an affectation done in public speaking for dramatic effect. Certain words are emphasized and/or given extra syllables to signify that they have special meaning (Worship the LORD-uh!). Restricted almost exclusively to preachers with the occasional politician adopting it as well. It’s associated with rural Southerners mostly. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2015, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-talking-like-a-pirate-is-it-an-anglo-wide-thing-other-languages/731880/33 "2015-09-21T21:41:42Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > I sense Cockney rhyme, but can’t make it out… Aye, Bristol Cities. (Bristol City is a football/soccer club of said place). ---
**Author:** ![SpyOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-talking-like-a-pirate-is-it-an-anglo-wide-thing-other-languages/731880/34 "2015-09-22T01:06:18Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Vampire\<–Bela Lugosi (Lugosi Bela)\<–Hungary. > > (snip)I’m not sure if he was from Transylvania (part of Hungary for centuries, now in Romania). according to the maps at wikipedia, Lugoj (nee Lugos), the place where Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó was born and from which he took his stage name, is west of Transylvania proper, but in an area that is often included in Transylvania. (One of those random facts that got stuck in my brain is that Bela Lugosi actually means Bela from Lugos, and google did the rest.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-talking-like-a-pirate-is-it-an-anglo-wide-thing-other-languages/731880.md?page=1)