Top 5 Pirate Phrases
Recently there has been a revival in Pirates and Pirate-related areas, mostly thanks to the enourmous success of Pirates of the Caribbean, and the revolutionary work by those associated with 'Talk Like A Pirate Day'.My own interest in Pirates began way back in the mists of time when I was introduced to pirates probably courtesy of Peter Pan, with Captain Hook, this was of course later followed with the excellent Hook. But between these films came a whole plethora (can't believe I managed to fit that word in) of stuff featuring pirates, such as the brilliant Monkey Island games, and also Sid Meier's Pirates. There were also lots more films, including the legendary Goonies, Muppet Treasure Island and the unfortunate, but cheesily excellent Cutthroat Island.
All of these films and games featured some excellent Pirate Speech, but here is my Top 5 items of Piratetalk:
1. Landlubber - 'lubber' was an old English word for a big, slow, clumsy person, and this term was aimed at those persons on ship who were not very skilled or at ease with ship life, as if to say, "You were no better on the land."
2. Grog - Is a secret mixure of which contains the following, Kerosene, Glycol acid, Artificial sweeteners, Sulfuric acid, Rum, Acetone, Red dye #2, Scumm, Axle grease, Battery acid and/or pepperoni.
3. Avast Ye! - from the Dutch term for 'hold fast' and means "Stop and pay attention", like, "Get a load of this."
4. 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.
5. ARRRGGGHHH!!!! - Traditional Pirate speak, can be suitable on any occasion and substituted for any sentence. Much like the mafia 'Forgedaboutit!'
I've got a particular love for Pirates, while certainly not the most attractive of creatures, well, the blokes at least, they certainly are very cool. I look forward to a continued revival and better outfits for fancy dress, rather than the crap some people wear. At least put some effort in. I should try and find some pictures from when Viv dressed up as a pirate, that was sweet!
