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IMPORTANT PIRATE TREASURE TRIVIA AND DATES
LYRICS FOR "A PIRATE'S LIFE FOR ME"
Pirate Vocabulary
Addled
-- Mad, insane, or just stupid. An "addlepate" is a fool.
Aft -- Short for "after." Toward the rear of the ship.
Ahoy -- "Hello!"
Avast! -- "Hey!" Could be used as "Stop that!" or "Who goes
there?"
Begad! -- By God!
Belay -- Stop that. "Belay that talk!" would mean "Shut up!"
Bilge! -- Nonsense, or foolish talk. The bilges of a ship are the
lowest parts, inside the hull along the keel. They fill with stinking
bilgewater -- or just "bilge."
Bilge-sucking -- A very uncomplimentary adjective.
Black Spot -- To "place the Black Spot" on another pirate is to
sentence him to death, to warn him he is marked for death, or sometimes
just to accuse him of a serious crime before other pirates. (Long John
received this in Treasure Island)
Booty -- Loot.
Bosun -- Boatswain; a petty officer.
Bowsprit -- The slanted spar at a ship's prow.
Brethren of the Coast -- The Caribbean buccaneers called
themselves by this name in the 1640-1680 period. They actually formed a
sort of fraternity, and did not (usually) fight each other or even steal
from each other. After 1680, a new group of pirates appeared...who did
not trust each other
Briny deep -- The ocean. Probably no pirate in all history ever
used this phrase, but don't let that stop u; its fun to say!
Buccaneer -- A general term for the Caribbean pirates.
Bucko -- Familiar term. "Me bucko" = "my friend." Fun to say:
Buck up, me bucko!
Cat o'nine tails, or just "cat" -- a whip with many lashes, used
for flogging. "A taste of the cat" might refer to a full flogging, or
just a single blow to "smarten up" a recalcitrant hand.
Chantey -- A sailor's work song. Also spelled "shantey" or
"shanty."
Corsair -- A more romantic term for pirate. But still a pirate.
Crow's nest -- A small platform, sometimes enclosed, near the top
of a mast, where a lookout could have a better view Cutlass -- A
curved sword, like a saber but heavier. Traditional pirate weapon. Has
only one cutting edge; may or may not have a useful point.
Davy Jones' locker -- The bottom of the sea (See below for
history)
Deadlights -- Eyes. "Use yer deadlights, matey!"
Dead men tell no tales -- Standard pirate excuse for leaving no
survivors. `Nother really fun thing to say
Dog -- A mild insult, perhaps even a friendly one. Note: its not
pronounced dawg!
Doubloon -- A Spanish gold coin. At different times, it was worth
either 4 or 16 silver pesos, or "pieces of eight."
Feed the fish -- What you do when you are thrown into the sea,
dead or alive. yum...
Grog -- Generically, any alcoholic drink. Specifically, rum
diluted with water to make it go farther.
Gun -- A cannon.
Fore, or forrard -- Toward the front end of the ship.
Hands -- The crew of a ship; sailors.
Handsomely -- Quickly. "Handsomely now, men!" = "Hurry up!"
Jack Ketch -- The hangman. To dance with Jack Ketch is to hang.
Jack Tar, or tar -- A sailor.
Jolly Roger -- The pirates' skull-and-crossbones flag. It was an
invitation to surrender, with the implication that those who surrendered
would be treated well. A red flag indicated "no quarter."
Keelhaul -- Punishment by dragging under the ship, from one side
to the other. The victim of a keelhauling would be half-drowned, or
worse, and lacerated by the barnacles that grew beneath the ship.
Kiss the gunner's daughter -- A punishment: to be bent over one
of the ship's guns and flogged.
Landlubber or just lubber -- A non-sailor.
Letters of Marque -- Papers issued by a national government
during wartime, entitling a privately owned ship to raid enemy commerce,
or even attack enemy warships. Early letters of reprisal were issued to
merchants to make it legal for them to counter-raid pirates! A ship
bearing such letters, and operating within their limits, is a privateer
rather than a pirate . . . that is, a legal combatant rather than a
criminal and murderer. The problem is that letters of marque aren't
always honored, even by the government that issued them. Captain Kidd
had letters of marque; his own country hanged him anyway.
Lights -- Lungs. A pirate might threaten to "have someone's
lights and liver."
Line -- A rope in use as part of the ship's rigging, or as a
towing line. When a rope is just coiled up on deck, not yet being used
for anything, it's all right to call it a rope.
Maroon -- A fairly common punishment for violation of a pirate
ship's articles, or offending her crew. The victim was left on a
deserted coast (or, of course, an island) with little in the way of
supplies. That way, no one could say that the unlucky pirate had
actually been killed by his former brethren.
Me hearties -- Typical way for a pirate leader to address his
crew.
Matey -- A piratical way to address someone in a cheerful, if not
necessarily friendly, fashion.
On the Account -- The piratical life. A man who went "on the
account" was turning pirate.
Piece of eight -- A Spanish silver coin worth one peso or 8
reales. It was sometimes literally cut into eight pieces, each worth one
real.
Pirate -- A seagoing robber and murderer. Contrast with
privateer.
Poop deck -- The highest deck at the aft end of a large ship.
Smaller ships don't have a poop; the highest part aft is the
quarterdeck. Another really fun thing to say...as in "Swab the poop
deck, u scurvy dog!"
Port -- (1) A seaport. (2) The left side of the ship when you are
facing toward her prow.
Poxy, poxed -- Diseased. Used as an insult.
Privateer -- A ship bearing letters of marque (q.v.) she can only
attack an enemy ship, and only in time of war, but does so as a
representative of her country. A privateer is theoretically a
law-abiding combatant, and entitled to be treated as an honorable
prisoner if captured.
Prow -- The "nose" of the ship.
Reef -- To reef sails is to shorten them, tying them partially
up, either to slow the ship or to keep a strong wind from putting too
much strain on the masts.
Rope's end -- another term for flogging. "Ye'll meet the rope's
end for that, me bucko!"
Rum (adjective) -- Strange or odd. A "rum fellow" is a peculiar
person, the sort who won't say "Arrrr!" on Talk Like A Pirate Day. (u
could just call the example downright evil...)
Rum (noun)
-- Traditional pirate drink.
Sail ho! -- "I see a ship!" The sail, of course, is the first
part of a ship visible over the horizon.
Salt, old salt -- An experienced seaman.
Scuppers -- Openings along the edges of a ship's deck that allow
water on deck to drain back to the sea rather than collecting in the
bilges. "Scupper that!" is an expression of anger or derision: "Throw
that overboard!"
Scurvy -- (1) A deficiency disease which often afflicted sailors;
it was caused by lack of vitamin C. (2) A derogatory adjective suitable
for use in a loud voice, as in "Ye scurvy dogs!"
Sea dog -- An experienced seaman.
Shark bait -- (1) Your foes, who are about to feed the fish
(q.v.). (2) A worthless or lazy sailor; a lubber who is no use aboard
ship.
Shiver me timbers! -- An expression of surprise or strong
emotion.
Sink me! -- An expression of surprise.
Smartly -- Quickly. "Smartly there, men!" = "Hurry up!"
Splice the mainbrace -- To have a drink. Or, perhaps, several
drinks.
Starboard -- The right side of the ship when you are facing
toward her prow.
Sutler/Chandler -- A merchant in port, selling the various things
that a ship needed for supplies and repairs.
Swab (noun) -- A disrespectful term for a seaman. "Man that gun,
ye cowardly swabs!" Swab (verb) -- To clean something. Being put
to "swabbing the decks" would be a low-level punishment for a
disobedient pirate.
Swag -- Loot.
Walk the plank-- A piratical execution. The victim, usually
blindfolded or with bound hands or both, is forced to walk along a plank
laid over the ship's side, to fall into the water below. Except this
seems to be a total invention; it first appeared in 19th-century
fiction, long after the great days of piracy.
Yo-ho-ho -- A very piratical thing to say, whether it actually
means anything or not.
This time, let's try and get it right!!