Pirate Translator

Pirate Translator

Admit it: You really don't know how to talk like a pirate. But you need to know, because today is "talk like a pirate day," and perhaps you're donning your pirate suit as I type and looking for some last-minute pirate phrases before heading out to a pirate party with your mates. How do I know that? Just look at Google Trends. Searches for "talk like a pirate day," "pirate translator" and "pirate phrases" are all in the top 30 right now.

This Web site offers some catch phrases that might help you talk like a pirate today. Let's try a few out that might come in handy at that party today. Pirate translations in bold. Why do they point these things at me when I ask if I can take their picture? These are from the Tall Ship festival pirate camp. I can't believe I passed up on an offer to be a Pirates Wench that day but it was 100 degrees out and I couldn't see dressing up in heavy historical costumes. Still, a Pirate Wench, sigh. What a thing to put on my resume.

Talk Like a Pirate Day

Talk Like a Pirate Day

It's rolled around once again, like a stray cannonball on the deck of a sailing ship. September 19 is the annual Talk Like a Pirate Day, for no particular reason whatsoever. Thank John "OI' Chumbucket" Bauer and Mark "Cap'n Slappy" Summers, the two ne'er do-wells with pirattitude for starting the tradition, and writer Dave Barry for popularizing it seven years ago. Bauer and Summers have two books available from publishers and three others they've self-published, including the children's book "A Li'l Pirate's A-B-Seas."

Not all pirate talk is fit for kids. Suggested pirate pick-up lines include "Have ya ever met a man with a real yardarm?" and "How'd you like to scrape the barnacles off of me rudder?" As for "booty" and "treasure chest"... well keep those double meanings to yourself, you swarthy knave. Los Angeles is home to a bounty of pirate-related events today, including sexy pirate talk and a costume contest at the R Bar in Koreatown, a pirate-themed murder mystery geocache hunt, and a weekend's worth of pirates and steampunk at the Queen Mary. Shiver me timbers.

The humorous lampoon rapidly sailed' viral, an' eventually th' spaghetti an' swashbuckler themed religion co-adapted th' separately created International Talk Like a Buccanneer Tide annual holiday. Th' holiday itself be developed as a personal joke between two Oregonian shipmates an' recieved a fair amount o' noteriety before its eventual inclusion into th' psyche o' internet/skeptical/nerd culture. Nay doubt members o' th' Anonymous protest group Project Chanology (San Fransisco branch) be ou' in fore o' th' San Fransisco Scientology offices in full swashbuckler regalia. These internet memes be havin' a way o' linkin' together.