Talk like a pirate
Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!
“This is disgusting!” or “I’m losing it.”
Ahoy!
Universal Hello at sea.
Ahoy, me Hearties!
“Hello you guys. Let’s go do some looting!”
Avast
“Stop what you’re doing and listen up!”
Aye
Yes
Aye-Aye
“I’ll get right on it.”
Batten down the hatches
“Secure everything that can move. We’re in for it”
Beauty
Beauty, as in “Yer a beauty me beauty.”
Belay it
“Knock that off!”
Bilge
The lowest part of the boat where all the crud collects.
Bilge rat
The lowest form of animal life; similar to today’s politicians and lawyers.
Bilge-sucking
A guy with some real personal problems
Blimey!
An expression of shock and disbelief.
Bloody
The very worst oath in pirate vernacular, as in … “Yon bloody cannonball took off me leg!”
Blow me down!
See Blimey
Blow the man down
“Off him.”
Booty
Loot or stolen goods
Buccaneer
A pirate with attitude. A snob who thinks he’s hot stuff.
Black spotted
Extreme black-balling. Sentenced to death.
Cat o’ nine tails
A flogging device with nine separate thongs, each of which contains a small lead ball at the tip. Rarely used in the US Navy today.
Clap of thunder
A triple grog.
Crow’s nest
A lookout platform at the top of a mast
Davy Jones’ Locker
The bottom of the sea, where the bones of seamen lie.
Deadlights
Yer Eyes
Dead men tell no tales
“Kill ’em all and let God choose his own!”
Gangway!
“Stand aside, or I’ll run ye over.”
Hang the jib
To pout
Hang ‘im from the yardarm
“Truss ‘im up and let ‘im rot in the sun.”
Head
Bathroom
Heave ho
“Take a strain.”
Heave to
“Luff your sails and cease headway or we’ll fire a shot across yer bow.”
Hempen halter
Hangman’s noose.
Hornswaggle
To cheat, dissemble and lie. A prerequisite to becoming a full-fledged pirate.
Jack o’ coins
Ship quartermaster
Jack o’ cups
First Mate
Jack o’ staves
First Lieutenant
Jack o’ swords
Bosun
Jack ketch
The hangman
Jack tar
A common seaman
Jolly roger
Skull and crossbones flag. Black means “Surrender your ship.” Red means “Leave no survivors.”
Keelhaul
The practice of dragging miscreants naked across the thwarts and the barnacle embedded keel of a vessel. It really must have smarted!
Landlubber
An awkward, overweight, out of shape human being with nothing much going for him. In other words, anyone who is not a seaman.
Maroon
To leave someone stranded on land.
Matey
See “Me hearties”
Me
My, as in “Me ‘ead ‘urts.”
Me hearties
A gathering of pirates made congenial by copious quantities of grog before the drunken brawl erupts.
Pieces of eight
Spanish silver dollars, real de ochos, on which the US dollar was based.
Pillage
Rob, sack, plunder and generally engage in unsocial behavior.
Poop deck
The second story equivalent of a “head”.
Powder monkey
The youngest and dumbest crew member whose responsibility it is to handle volatile gunpowder in battle.
Privateer
Person hired by a government to attack without flying Government flag.
Run a shot across the bow
“Strike your colors or we’ll blow you to smithereens.”
Scallywag
A young pirate, analogous to a pollywog.
Scurvy
Contemptible and unclean. A word currently used most often to describe congressmen.
Scuttle
A small container used to transport coal.
Seadog
A veteran pirate and/or his foot.
Shark bait
On one’s way to Davy Jones’ Locker.
Shipshape
Neat and orderly. A condition never seen on a true pirate vessel
Shiver me timbers!
An expression of shock and disbelief.
Sink me!
See “Blimey.”
Smartly
NOW!
Splice the Mainbrace!
“Let’s go get drunk!”
Sprogs
Kids or pirates-in-training
Squiffy
A clown
Three sheets to the wind
Sloshed. Way too much grog!
Titivate
To make shipshape. Pirates never have occasion to use this word. When their ship gets untidy, true pirates scrap it and commandeer a clean one.
Walk the plank
Yer last opportunity to try a one and a half dive in a tuck position.
Weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen!
Let’s go do some BAAAAD!
Ye
You