Avast me hearties!! Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day!
Me most favorite of all me favorite holidays — there’ll be the usual Hornpipe ceremony later today and, as usual, when we show up at ye ole’ neighbors’ house for a grog, him will say me don’t look like a pirate — that me should have a peg leg or patch so he’ll know what’s happening. Me will explain, again, today be talk like a pirate, not look like a pirate day…. t’ scurvy dog still won’t get it. I’m sure the streets here will be filled with landlubbers yelling salty sea dog phrases in each other’s faces on this raucous day.
Tonight me and me wench Claire will knock on all the doors in the neighborhood and yell, “arrr, scurvy dog I be needin to swill a pint or two of grog.” If grog not forthcoming, me usually use the blige rat insult, or sometimes “ye scurvy dog!” response.
But to diverge for a moment, today lots of people will adopt Devonshire accents and call each other “me hearties,” but is that what pirates really sounded like? Despite the fact that there has been a flood of pirate discoveries recently, and we now know more than ever about the day-to-day life of pirates, we still don’t really know very much about how they spoke.
Apparently the Devonshire accent associated with pirates today comes from Robert Lewis Stevenson and later depictions of his character Long John Silver in Treasure Island. For some reason, the world just assumed that all pirates should sound like Long John Silver — and, sound alike.
The (disappointing) truth is that pirates during the Golden Age of Piracy came from diverse backgrounds and pirates are not a cohesive culture or nationality that would have a developed a speech pattern. We know there were English, French, Dutch, Moorish and African pirates — in fact, probably every nation and accent.
I hate to admit it, but a pirate (probably) sounded like the average sailor of the 18th century. I doubt that there is any single accent that is truly “pirate.” So in reality, we already talk like a pirate, every day of the year.
But no matter…..
Talking like a pirate is fun — it gives your conversation a swagger and style denied to landlocked lubbers. So let’s celebrate the day with a smile on our face and a parrot on our shoulder — and a pint or two of grog. Fair winds, me hearties!!
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