Avast mates, shiver me timbers its Talk Like a Pirate Day

It seems like there is a holiday or special designation for the majority of days on the calendar. Many of them are driven by our friends at Hallmark that have cards and gifts for Valentine's Day, Easter, even Flag Day. Tomorrow, Saturday, September 19 is no exception. September 19 is International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Talk Like a Pirate Day began rather harmlessly when a couple buddies playing racquet ball began to talk like pirates. Jokingly the fun chatter became a "holiday" for them and their friends. Then in 2002 the silly holiday came to the attention of syndicated columnist Dave Barry who mentioned the "Shiver me timbers" celebration in his column. From there the legend of International Talk Like a Pirate Day has grown and skyrocketed.

Do we need an International Talk Like a Pirate Day? According to the founders, we do!

The reason - Talking like a pirate is fun. It's really that simple. It gives your conversation a swagger, an elán, denied to landlocked lubbers. The best explanation came from a guy at a Cleveland radio station who described the day as a "whimsical alternative" to all the serious things that were making the news so depressing. In other words, silliness is the holiday's best selling point.

So to help you celebrate this day of silliness, here is some basic pirate lingo. There are several web sites that offer glossaries that are pretty good, but here are a couple to get you going. 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.

Pirate Speak Rules

1. Only speak in the present tense. So it is "I be" "they be" as opposed to "I am" or "they are."
2. Double up your adjectives. Don't say never, say "No nay ne'er!"* (see rule 4)
3. Drop all "g's". Like "fightin'", "sailin'" smellin'".
4. Drop your "v's" for advanced Pirate Speak. "ne'er", "o'er" and ye be ha'in' people strainin' to understand ye.

Pirate Speak Words, Pharses and Terms

• Ahoy - Hey!
• Avast - Stop!
• Aye - Yes
• Booty - treasure
• Black Jack - leather tankard
• Cutlass - short heavy sword with a curved blade
• Davy Jones's Locker - reference to death
• In Davy's Grip - close to death, or frightened
• Have the Davies or the Joneseys - frightened
• Doubloons - pieces of gold found in pirate treasure
• Gentlemen o' fortune - pirates
• Grog - pirate's favorite drink
• Hornswaggle - cheat
• Jack - flag or sailor
• Landlubber - someone not used to life onboard a ship
• Lass - woman
• Lily-livered - faint o' heart
• Matey - shipmate or friend
• Me - my
• Marooned - stranded, usually on a desert isle
• Scuttle - sink
• Scallywag – scoundrel
• Yo-ho-ho - laughter