Talk Like a Pirate Day

Talk Like a Pirate Day

Talk Like a Pirate Day, for no particular reason whatsoever. Thank John "OI' Chumbucket" Bauer and Mark "Cap'n Slappy" Summers, the two ne'er do-wells with pirattitude for starting the tradition, and writer Dave Barry for popularizing it seven years ago. Bauer and Summers have two books available from publishers and three others they've self-published, including the children's book "A Li'l Pirate's A-B-Seas." Not all pirate talk is fit for kids. Suggested pirate pick-up lines include "Have ya ever met a man with a real yardarm?" and "How'd you like to scrape the barnacles off of me rudder?" As for "booty" and "treasure chest"... well keep those double meanings to yourself, you swarthy knave. Los Angeles is home to a bounty of pirate-related events today, including sexy pirate talk and a costume contest at the R Bar in Koreatown, a pirate-themed murder mystery geocache hunt, and a weekend's worth of pirates and steampunk at the Queen Mary. Shiver me timbers.

Actually, it’s tomorrow, September 19. But that’s no reason we can’t prepare for this very special celebration a day arrrrly. For those of you well-versed in what should be a federal holiday, you’rrrrrre all set for the festivity. (OK, we’ll knock it off with all the arr’s). Well, like most other things that have taken off in the last few years, it’s the Internet that’s fueled it. Although it hasn’t amassed the 126 million times the “Evolution of Dance” video has been watched, there are more than 1,500 “Talk Like a Pirate” videos on YouTube, and more than 12 million websites dedicated in some way to the holiday. Now this doesn’t compare to the 271 million websites that come up when you search for Christmas. Or the 35 million sites for Thanksgiving. But it clobbers Flag Day (1.3 million). And St. Patrick’s Day (6.8 million). Even President’s Day doesn’t come close, with only 1.1 million. They don’t know why exactly they began to speak like pirates, but Baur suspects it might have come from an injury suffered during the game. “Anyway, whoever let out the first ‘Arrr!’ started something. One thing led to another. ‘That be a fine cannonade,’ one said, to be followed by ‘Now watch as I fire a broadside straight into your yardarm!’ and other such helpful phrases,” he said.