Happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

You guessed it, September 19th marks a day to celebrate the pirate in us all.

With a nineteenth century maritime fiction nearing release, I’m quite interested in ‘pirate speak’. Well, perhaps I should more correctly say nautical terms and sayings. With ‘pirate talk’ on the table, people relish raucous m’ hearties, shiver me timbers and avasts. But when it comes to nautical phrases, you might be surprised where they can be found.

To get under way (and I don’t meant to let the cat out of the bag), by and large most of us use terms of a nautical origin in everyday speech. Not that I’m a right son of a gun, but occasionally I’ll hear a phrase in conversation and wonder if it has a maritime origin. I’m sure though that people would be quite taken aback if I broke in mid-sentence with, “I’ll bet that phrase/word has a nautical source!” A random query like that could put them all at sea. You know, those moments when your brain goes blank and you just want to cut and run? They could likely hit the panic stations, and it’s never helpful to go off like a loose cannon.

Fact is, even if you know the ropes life’s not all plain sailing and can really land you in the doldrums. Sometimes it seems there’s the devil to pay (and no pitch hot) and unless someone casts a lifeline, you can be left high and dry. But even when those random squalls hit, so long as you batten down the hatches and hold on ’til the bitter end, you’ll find your way to your proper return port.

And what’s all this underlining hogwash about? Arrrrrr, now we’re talking like a pirate! 🙂