Thursday, September 18, 2008

National Talk Like a Pirate Day.....who knew??


Tomorrow, September 19th is National "Talk Like a Pirate Day".
I never even knew this day existed....how do I miss so much??
For those that may be interested....here is some basic Pirate lingo...
(courtesy of some article I found on what else...the internet)
Pirate lingo is rich and complicated, sort of like a good stew. Here are the five basic words that you cannot live without. Master them, and you can face Talk Like a Pirate Day with a smile on your face and a parrot on your shoulder, if that's your thing.

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

Once you've mastered the basics, you're ready to start expanding your pirate vocabulary. Try these for starters:

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 humor 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!

ON THE HOMEFRONT....
I'm pooped...I have been watching my grandchildren during the day, as my daughter's babysitter has had a family emergency and is unavailable this week.
It is tough to keep up with a 4 year old and 2 year old (who is newly potty trained).
I may not be able to keep up with posting....heck I can barely go to the bathroom (and certainly not alone).
But this weekend we are headed to Reno...so I think I can hang on for another day....I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN,.....

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

whoa mama i didnt know there was a pirates day. crazy crazy crazy...i miss you !!!! i think im gonna come home soon. hopefully a week or so.

Twisted Fencepost said...

Ahoy, me beauty! Have fun in Reno and stay away from the bilge rats!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, how did I miss Talk Like a Pirate day? I feel so ashamed.

Well, at least I'm watching Pirates of the Caribbean on USA right now.