In fact, many current terms around drunkenness hail from this time: “slewed”, “(well) spliced”, “listing to starboard”, “three sheets to the wind”, “legless”, “keel over” and “guzzle-guts” (“one greedy of liquor”). Those who see scruffy slang as a shortcoming of modern times might be surprised to encounter in Grose’s dictionary entries like “Vice Admiral of the Narrow Seas”, which he defines as “a drunken man that pisses under the table into his companions’ shoes”.ĭinky-di Aussies: how slanguage helped form a new national identity Early lexicographer Captain Francis Grose’s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue groans with 18th century nautical gems like “shipshape” (orderly), “junk” (pieces of old rope and, later, “pieces of salted pork”), and lashings of terms for food and drink - “belly timber”, “slush and tack” (food), “grub-spoiler” (cook), “flash the hash” (to vomit), “grog” (rum and water), “sluice the gob” (to drink) are some of the success stories. But did he really say ‘arrr’? Wikimedia commons, CC BYĮarly slang dictionaries are another source of “tar phrases”, tar being an early appellation for a sailor. Blackbeard is one of the world’s most famous pirates. The Capture of the Pirate Blackbeard, 1718 by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris. This was so much the case that philosopher George Campbell described the practice as a “source of darkness in composing”. The so-called golden age of piracy (late 17th and early 18th centuries) happened to coincide with the golden age of travel literature, and it became the fashion of the time for writers to pepper their memoirs and travelogues with nautical words. Some of this nautical jargon made it into ordinary language and survived - “by and large”, “taken aback”, “underway” and “go by the board”. Our knowledge of sea-faring lingo comes from early manuals like seamanship writer Samuel Sturmy’s Compleat Mariner (1669). Tracing sea lingo from travel logs to sluiced gobs In fact, before becoming part of sailor parlance, people spoke scathingly of the “abbey-lubber” (monks living in idleness or self-indulgence).Īnd from the 16th to the 19th centuries, we see the “lifting” hearties speaking of the “leaning” lubbers, especially those land-lubbers.

“Lubber” has been around since the 14th century and referred to a clumsy and idle person. “Hearty” was even another word for “sailor” from the 18th to the early 20th century.ġ3 'ye olde' phrases that would be far better in the workplace

When pirates say “me hearties”, they’re giving due respect to a person for bravery or other admirable qualities. We see a similar pirate-specific support of nautical terms like “hearty” and “lubber”. Like “(God) strike me dead” and “blow me down”, shiver me timbers was rare by the mid 1800s and is never encountered these days – except on September 19.

They are modelled along the lines of frightful curses like “Gorblimey” (a truncated version of “May God blind me”) and “Drat” or “Rats” (innocent sounding expressions until you realise they’re disguised forms of “God rot them”).Īcclaimed actor Robert Newton built the pirate brand in films like Treasure Island and Black Beard. There was undoubtedly a bit of word play going on with these mock oaths - the idea being something like “may my wooden leg (or ship) fly into small pieces!”. The term “shiver” meant “to splinter” (by happy coincidence, English has another verb “shiver” with equally appropriate “quiver, tremble” senses). It was also a nautical expression for the pieces of wood making up the ribs or frames of a ship’s hull. Timber was a slang term for “wooden leg” (“timber toe” meant “man with a wooden leg”). Oi! We're not lazy yarners, so let’s kill the cringe and love our Aussie accent(s) Making many regular appearances on September 19 are expletives like “timbers”, “shiver me timbers” and “sash me timbers” – all nautical exclamations from the late 18th century. The books and movies that launched the pirate brand all those years ago have acted like artificial life support systems for expressions that otherwise would have long bitten dust. Together with the skull-and-crossbones logo, this accent built the pirate brand. His portrayal of Long John Silver and Blackbeard in 1950s films set the gold standard for pirate voices on the screen – including the “arr”. Captain Kidd hailed from Scotland, Black Bart from Wales, William Burke from Ireland and Edward “Ned” Low from London.Ĭaptain Kidd's 'treasure' found in Indian Ocean – but this is no haul in pirating termsīut it was Dorset-born Robert Newton – acclaimed actor and patron saint of Talk Like A Pirate Day – who set the fashion for pirate-speak. True, south-western England produced well-known pirates like “Black Sam” Bellamy and “Long Ben” Every, but famous pirates came from all over. The signature pirate voice is West Country (or some version of it). You may already know how to talk like a pirate, but can you dance like one?

Pirate slang words