pirate

The scarf and eye patch are optional (but they sure look good). Credit: Johnny Worthington, Flickr

Arr you ready for Talk Like a Pirate Day? Because it's coming on September 19.

Do you ever find yourself outraged by the fact that society is letting its pirate heritage slip into the abyss like a Spanish galleon loaded with untold treasures? The biggest tragedy, of course, is that we're giving up a ridiculously awesome way of talking. If you're sad to pirate culture vanishing, then you're in luck: September 19th is International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Quite straightforwardly, the point of Talk Like a Pirate Day is to encourage average landlubbers to talk like those seafaring bandits of yore. Bemoaning the lack of pirate talk in our daily lives, enthusiasts John Baur (aka Ol' Chumbucket) and Mark Summers (aka Cap'n Slappy) decided to launch an awareness campaign to bring pirate-speak back into the public consciousness. Thus, on September 19th, 1995, Talk Like a Pirate Day was born. Then in 2002, it was given a considerable jump-start by columnist Dave Barry.

Maybe one day, Pirate Talk 101 will qualify for a foreign language credit in our public school systems (we can dream can't we). In the meantime, it's imperative that all pirate talkers fly their own personal jolly rogers high and proud.

So how does one go about celebrating TLAPD, exactly? Well, for one, you might begin by talking like a pirate, especially in public places. Savvy? You don't have to hang out at Long John Silver's to enjoy a little pirate banter. Try it out around the neighborhood. Maybe even let out a good strong "Arrrr" or two while you're at the grocery store.

Not sure a strong sprinkling of "avasts" and "ahoys" will go over well at the office? We've got an alternative for you: If you're on Facebook (Holidash is, btw), you can change your news feed to speak pirate for the day, which means that all your updates will be appropriately pirate-y. How cool is that! It's super-easy -- simply scroll to the bottom of your page and, at the bottom left, change your primary language to "English (Pirate)."

You could also dress like a pirate, but as Ol' Chumbucket and Cap'n Slappy point out on the official TLAPD website, "there already is a Dress Like a Pirate Day. It's called Halloween." But hey, if you think you can pull off the look, we say whatever floats your pirate ship.

If ye be needin' help on how to talk pirate, check out TLAPD's official English-to-Pirate translatarrrr.