In 2002 , syndicated columnist and bad song afficionado Dave Barrywrote an articlethat changed our populace . He revealed that John Baur and Mark Summers , two guy cable who enjoyed playing racquetball , discovered that the game was much more fun if everyone speak instereotypical plagiariser slang . Using criteria that you could call " arbitrary " at good , these two serviceman chose Sept. 19 to be public lecture Like a Pirate Day .
A tradition was bear .
Chances are , you ’ve see grounds of Talk Like a Pirate Day . chirrup plays legion to one C of messages reference mainsail , poop deck and abject dogs .
The word " arr " is view an satisfactory alternative to " yes . " But did pirates really talk like that ?
The answer is " not really . " Our construct of piratical speech stems chiefly from a series of memorable operation by the worker Robert Newton . He appeared in several films and TV appearance as a literary pirate , playing such characters as Long John Silver in a Disney adaptation of " Treasure Island " and the horrific Edward Teach , advantageously cognise as Blackbeard in " Blackbeard , the Pirate . " you could try Newton in the clip below :
Newton was stick out in Dorset , England . Dorset is in the West Country , the southwesterly recession of Britain . The dialect in that area take many of the constituent we associate with pirate spoken communication . For example , it ’s uncouth to hear a heavy " r " in words spoken by people from the West Country .
Newton ’s public presentation became iconic . It did n’t take long before his West Country speech pattern became the de facto plagiarist speech . Scholars , however , do n’t think his portrayal was particularly accurate .
It ’s punishing to be sure , though . We do n’t have many historical accounts of actual pirate spoken communication . The Golden Age of Piracy predates recording by more than a C . Pirates also did n’t have a habit of writing much down . Many were likely ignorant . Most of those who did write were educated before turning to a roguish lifestyle , so their chronicle are n’t much unlike from those of other enlightened the great unwashed at the time .
It might be more appropriate to call Sept. 19 " babble out Like Robert Newton Day . " But while it may not be historically precise to yell " shiver me quality " or " walk the plank , " it ’s still fun . specially if you ’re play racquetball .
