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Talk Like a Pirate Day (TLAPD) is a parodic and funny day celebrated on September 19 each year. This is the day when everyone, in the world, especially pirate enthusiasts, should talk like a pirate. The holiday, and its observance, springs from a romanticized view of the Golden Age of Piracy.

PIRATE DAY ORIGINAL

TLAPD was created in 1995 by John Baur (Ol' Chumbucket) and Mark Summers (Cap'n Slappy). They 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!"

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 racquetball 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 them to remember. At first just an inside joke between the 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.

WHAT DOES EVERYONE DO TO CELEBRATE THE DAY?

Pirate enthusiasts often gather together and hold parties or other activities. They dress like pirates using many kinds of clothes and accessories such as bandanas with attached braids and beads, jackets, shirts, waist sashes, boots, skirts, belts, pants, etc. and they compare tips on pirate costume creation. They try to act and talk like pirates, and sing loud pirate songs together. Moreover, they share their knowledge of pirates to learn more about pirate history and literature, or even buy, sell, and trade pirate themed merchandise, attend rum tasting, and watch pirate movies. More specially, pirate enthusiasts can also celebrate the mighty day online. Just dressing like pirates, sitting at a computer connected to the Internet with a webcam turned on, pirate enthusiasts can have parties or activities in cyberspace on the mighty day. To talk like a real pirate in a low and husky voice, they can get Voice Changer Software installed, and turn it on. This voice processing software can help pirate enthusiasts choose the pirate voice they like and change their voices into pirate voices. Then they can sit at their computer and talk like pirates, or together, loudly sing their favorite pirate songs, share their knowledge of pirates and do many other things online to celebrate the day.

HOW CAN WE TALK LIKE A PIRATE? LEARN PIRATE LINGO.

Pirate lingo is rich and complicated, sort of like a good stew. There are several other sites that offer glossaries that are pretty good, and you can find some of them on this page. But if you just want a quick fix, a surface gloss, a "pirate patina," if you will, here are the five basic words that you should not miss. Master them, and you can face TLAPD with a smile on your face and a cutlass in your hand together with a parrot on your shoulder, if that's your thing.

Ahoy! - "Hello!"

Avast! - Stop and give attention. It can be used in a sense of surprise, "Whoa! Get a load of that!" which today makes it more of a "Check it out" or "No way!" or "Get off!"

Aye! - "Why yes, I agree most heartily with everything you just said or did."

Aye aye! - "I'll get right on that sir, as soon as my break is over."

Arrr! - This one is often confused with arrrgh, which is of course the sound you make when you sit on a belaying pin. "Arrr!" can mean, variously, "yes," "I agree," "I'm happy," "I'm enjoying this beer," "My team is going to win it all," "I saw that television show, it sucked!" and "That was a clever remark you or I just made." And those are just a few of the myriad possibilities of Arrr!

For more lingo for Pirate day, click here
Listen to some Pirate lingo and songs here