Friday, September 19, 2008

Talk Like a Pirate Day

(Wikipedia) 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 Corvallis, Oregon, who proclaimed September 19 each year as the day when everyone in the world should talk like a pirate. 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.

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.
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. Barry liked the idea and promoted the day. 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.
http://www.talklikeapirate.com/

How to Talk Like a Pirate

2 comments:

Unknown said...

A few years back our YN1 got off the boat during a BSP for health problems, so Squadron sent out another YN1 to ride us in the meantime. The rider was a pretty comedic guy and was somehow able to sneak the Plan of the Day by the XO with a note at the bottom that said "Today is International Pirates Day, all hands are to begin each sentence with or acknowledge persons with ARRRRR". Always wondered where he got that from and I'm pretty sure that was in September. It was pretty funny, it got to the point where every formal communications even over the 27MC were beginning with ARRRR. The XO was pissed.....

Anonymous said...

Arrr, should be "Talk like a Pirate" month.

A sub full of pirates, now that is a scary thought.