To celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day on 19
September (and our upcoming production of The Pirates of
Penzance), here we share a short guide to talking to language
of the seas...
Mastering the basics
Ahoy!-
"Hello!"
Avast!- Stop and
give attention. It can be used in a sense of surprise, "Whoa! Get a
load of that!" which today makes it more of a "Check it out" or "No
way!" or "Get off!"
Aye!- "Why yes, I
agree most heartily with everything you just said or did."
Aye aye!- "I'll
get right on that sir, as soon as my break is over."
Arrr!- This one
is often confused with arrrgh, which is of course the sound you
make when you sit on a belaying pin. "Arrr!" can mean, variously,
"yes," "I agree," "I'm happy," "I'm enjoying this beer," "My team
is going to win it all," "I saw that television show, it sucked!"
and "That was a clever remark you or I just made." And those are
just a few of the myriad possibilities of Arrr!
Advanced Pirate lingo
Beauty- The best
possible pirate address for a woman. Always preceded by "me," as
in, "C'mere, me beauty," or even, "me buxom beauty," to one
particularly well endowed. You'll be surprised how effective this
is.
Bilge rat- The
bilge is the lowest level of the ship. It's loaded with ballast and
slimy, reeking water. A bilge rat, then, is a rat that lives in the
worst place on the ship. On TLAP Day - A lot of guy humour involves
insulting your buddies to prove your friendship. It's important
that everyone understand you are smarter, more powerful and much
luckier with the wenches than they are. Since bilge rat is a pretty
dirty thing to call someone, by all means use it on your
friends.
Bung hole-
Victuals on a ship were stored in wooden casks. The stopper in the
barrel is called the bung, and the hole is called the bung hole.
That's all. It sounds a lot worse, doesn't it? On TLAP Day - When
dinner is served you'll make quite an impression when you say,
"Well, me hearties, let's see what crawled out of the bung hole."
That statement will be instantly followed by the sound of people
putting down their utensils and pushing themselves away from the
table. Great! More for you!
Grog- An
alcoholic drink, usually rum diluted with water, but in this
context you could use it to refer to any alcoholic beverage other
than beer, and we aren't prepared to be picky about that, either.
Call your beer grog if you want. We won't stop you! Water aboard
ship was stored for long periods in slimy wooden barrels, so you
can see why rum was added to each sailor's water ration - to kill
the rancid taste. On TLAP Day - Drink up, me hearties! And call
whatever you're drinking grog if you want to. If some prissy pedant
purses his lips and protests the word grog can only be used if
drinking rum and water, not the Singapore Sling you're holding,
keelhaul him!
Hornpipe- Both a
single-reeded musical instrument sailors often had aboard ship, and
a spirited dance that sailors do. On TLAP Day - We are not big fans
of the capering, it's not our favourite art form, if you will, so
we don't have a lot to say on the subject, other than to observe
that the common term for being filled with lust is "horny," and
hornpipe then has some comical possibilities. "Is that a hornpipe
in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me? Or both?"
Lubber- (or land
lubber) This is the seaman's version of land lover, mangled by
typical pirate disregard for elocution. A lubber is someone who
does not go to sea, who stays on the land. On TLAP Day - More
likely than not, you are a lubber 364 days of the year. But not if
you're talking like a pirate! Then the word lubber becomes one of
the more fierce weapons in your arsenal of piratical lingo. In a
room where everyone is talking like pirates, lubber is ALWAYS an
insult.
Smartly- Do
something quickly. On TLAP Day - "Smartly, me lass," you might say
when sending the bar maid off for another round. She will be so
impressed she might well spit in your beer.
For more tips for talking pirate, go to www.talklikeapirate.com
The
Pirates of Penzance, Sydney Theatre, 8-24 November, 2012.
Feature: Talk like a pirate
Date posted: 6 Sep 2012Author: STC