September 19, 2003
Arr!

Avast, ye scurvy dogs! Once again, it's time for National Talk Like A Pirate Day. There must be a lot of interest in this holiday because I'm getting a pirate-shipload of Google referrals for last year's post on the topic, and because I can't get to the NTLAPD web page right now. You can still read the Dave Barry column that got these guys way more publicity than they ever imagined, you can visit the British headquarters for pirate talk, which includes this handy set of pirate-themed cellphone ringtones, and of course there's The Poor Man's rapper-to-pirate translation table.

So put on your eyepatch, crack open a bottle of rum, and let your inner Long John Silver come out for the day. It's fun for the whole family. Now be on with ye before I have ye keelhauled!

Posted by Charles Kuffner on September 19, 2003 to Society and cultcha | TrackBack
Comments

Ahoy, sea dog! If I don't speak the proper tongue, may I be made to walk the plank and sink down to Davy Jones Locker.

(Not to be confused with Davy Jones of Monkees fame) ;)

Posted by: William Hughes on September 19, 2003 9:26 AM

In honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day, here is the pirate song written by Robert Lewis Stevenson in 1881.

 Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest 
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Drink and the devil be done for the rest 
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum

The mate was fixed by the bos’n’s pike
The bos’n’ brained with a markin spike and 
Cookey’s throat was marked belike It
Had been gripped by fingers ten and 
There they lay all good dead men like
Break o’ day in a boozing ken__ 
Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of rum

Fifteen men of a whole ship’s list 
Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of rum
Dead and be damned and the rest gone whist! 
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum

The skipper lay with his nob in gore where the 
Scullion’s axe his cheek had shore
And the scullion he was stabbed times four and 
There he lay and the soggy skies
Dripped all day in up-staring eyes at
Murk sunset and at foul sur-prise   
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum

Fifteen men of ‘em stiff and stark 
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Ten of the crew had the murder mark 
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum

‘Twas a cutlass swipe or and ounce of lead or a 
Yawning hole in a battered head
and the scuppers glut with a yawning red and 
There they lay aye damn my eyes
All lookouts clapped on par - a - dise all
Souls bound just con – tra – ri - wise   
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum

Fifteen men of ‘em good and true 
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Every man Jack could ha’ sailed with old Pew 
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum

There was chest on chest of Spanish gold with a 
Ton of plate in the middle hold
And the cabins riot with stuff un told As 
They lay there that had took the plum
With a sightless glare and their lips struck dumb
While we shared all by the rule of thumb  
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum

Fifteen men of a dead man’s chest 
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Drink and the devil had done for the rest 
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum

We wrapped ‘em all in a mains’l tight with 
Twice ten turns of a hausers bight
And we heaved ‘em over and out of sight with a 
Yo heave ho and fare you well
And a sullen plunge in a sullen swell
Ten fathoms deep on the road to hell  
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum

Posted by: Mike Thomas on September 19, 2003 3:58 PM

In keeping with the theme of the day, I offer this tidbit: the place for midnight rations on the Naval Base in Yokosuka, Japan c. 1972-1974 was proudly called "Davy Jones Locker." Alas, no rum on offer; just greasy bacon, sausage and eggs.

Posted by: Linkmeister on September 19, 2003 4:26 PM

This soccer score came in from the BBC:

Bournemouth Gynecologists 20
Watford Long John Silver Impersonators 0

The preceding was brought to you by Monty Python and the letter "R"

All together now: "Arr!"

Posted by: William Hughes on September 19, 2003 5:40 PM