International Talk Like a Pirate Day

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International Talk Like a Pirate Day (ITLAPD) is a parodic holiday invented in 1995 by John Baur ("Ol' Chumbucket") and Mark Summers ("Cap'n Slappy"), of the United States, who proclaimed September 19 each year as the day when everyone in the world should talk like a pirate.[1] For example, an observer of this holiday would greet friends not with "Hello," but with "Ahoy, me hearty!" The holiday, and its observance, springs from a romanticized view of the Golden Age of Piracy.

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[edit] Background

"Cap'n Slappy" and "Ol' Chumbucket", the founders of Talk Like a Pirate Day.
"Cap'n Slappy" and "Ol' Chumbucket", the founders of Talk Like a Pirate Day.

According to Summers, the day is the only holiday to come into being as a result of a sports injury. He has stated that during a racquetball game between Summers and Baur, one of them reacted to the pain with an outburst of, "Aaarrr!", and the idea was born. That game took place on June 6, 1995, but out of respect for the observance of D-Day, they chose Summers' ex-wife's birthday, as it would be easy for him to remember.[1][2]

At first an inside joke between two friends, the holiday gained exposure when John Baur and Mark Summers sent a letter about their invented holiday to the American syndicated humor columnist Dave Barry in 2002.[3] Barry liked the idea and promoted the day.[3] Growing media coverage of the holiday after Barry's column has ensured that this event is now celebrated internationally, and Baur and Summers now sell books and T-shirts on their website related to the theme.

Baur and Summers found new fame in the 2006 season premiere episode of ABC's Wife Swap, first aired September 18, 2006. They starred in the role of "a family of pirates" along with John's wife, Tori.

Actor Robert Newton, who portrayed Long John Silver in the 1950 Disney film Treasure Island and then in the 1954 film Long John Silver, is the patron saint of Talk Like A Pirate Day.[1] Newton was a native of Dorset, and it was his native West Country dialect, which he used in his portrayal of Long John Silver and Blackbeard, that has become the standard "pirate accent".[4] As the association of pirates with peg legs, parrots and treasure maps was popularized in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island (1883), the book has had a significant influence on parody pirate culture.[5]

[edit] Derivatives

  • The holiday is of particular importance to Pastafarians (those who follow the teachings of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster) who consider pirates to be absolute divine beings and the original Pastafarians.[6]
  • Tom Smith has written and recorded the song "Talk Like a Pirate Day," the quasi-official anthem of the holiday.[7]
  • In the Nintendo DS version of The Sims 2, in-game characters celebrate "Talk Like A Pirate Day" on September 19th, in which a special quest is released, involving a pirate quiz.
  • On Neopets's Neoboards, during the holiday, filters automatically changed words like "see" to "spy" and "n00b" to "landlubber."[8]
  • This holiday inspired the creation of the Day of the Ninja in 2003.[9]
  • In Sid Meier's Pirates! (2004), narration and character dialogue is altered to honor "Talk Like A Pirate Day" if the system's date is set to September 19.[10]
  • The multiplayer role-playing game Kingdom of Loathing celebrates Talk Like a Pirate Day, and a new item may drop in the game's pirate-themed zone, for that day only.
  • The role-playing game AdventureQuest celebrates Talk Like A Pirate Day by your character going to meet Captain Rhubarb to take a 20-question quiz on Pirate Talk. If you get all 20 questions right, you get access to a special Pirate Shop with new things added each year. You may also access this event via Warlic's Magic Shop.
  • Another role-playing game made by the creators of Adventure Quest called Dragonfable, also celebrates this holiday by changing many of the major character's greetings to pirate sayings and in 2007, during the pirates vs. ninjas war, the pirates team gained an additional boost to the amount of gold to be won for fighting against the ninjas starting on that day.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c The Original Talk Like A Pirate Day Web site, by John Baur and Mark Summers.
  2. ^ The KBIM Pat & Brian Show. Beyond Investigation Magazine. KBIM Webcast, Orange, California. [[Sept 19, 2007]]. 40 minutes in.
  3. ^ a b Dave Barry, "Arrrrr! Talk like a pirate—or prepare to be 'boarded'". 8 September 2002.
  4. ^ Bonanos, Chrstopher (2007-06-05). Did Pirates Really Say "Arrrr"? The origin of Hollywood's high-seas slang.. Slate. Washington Post Newsweek Interactive Co. Retrieved on 2007-09-16.
  5. ^ David Cordingly (1995). Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates. ISBN 0679425608
  6. ^ Open Letter to the Kansas School Board
  7. ^ * Talk Like A Pirate Day song (MP3), by Tom Smith
  8. ^ New Features on Neopets: 19th September
  9. ^ Day of the Ninja Site
  10. ^ GameSpot on Sid Meier's Pirates! (2004)

[edit] Further reading

  • Harland, John (1984). Seamanship in the Age of Sail. Provides a detailed account of the language used by seamen during the age of sail. ISBN 0-87021-955-3

[edit] External links

Fan sites

How to sites

Multimedia