Ahoy there, salty sea dogs and landlubbering lassies! Hoist the mainsails and wet your whistle with a bottle of rum — Talk Like a Pirate Day is on the horizon!

What is Talk Like a Pirate Day?

Talk Like a Pirate Day isn’t a national holiday, although we think it should be. The day began as a joke between John Baur and Mark Summers, two friends from the town of Albany in the US state of Oregon.

During a friendly game of racquetball (a game similar to squash), a tweak in the muscle caused one of the guys to exclaim “Arr!’ — much like a pirate would — which led to a rally of pirate banter between the two for the rest of the game. Realising how much more fun they had had by incorporating pirate parlance into their activity, the pair decided to continue the fun by dedicating one day each year to talking like a pirate.

After celebrating Talk Like a Pirate Day for a few years among their friends, Baur and Summers realised that they wanted to share the fun they were having and decided to spread the word. They got into contact with humour columnist Dave Barry, who with a Pulitzer Prize and a nationally syndicated column was well-placed to take the celebration to the next level.

Barry’s article brought not just national but international attention to Talk Like a Pirate Day, and the two friends were inundated with requests for interviews from newspaper and radio stations from the U.S. and around the world. Talk Like a Pirate Day became an international phenomenon.

When asked about the point of the holiday, Baur and Summers say “Talking like a pirate is fun. It’s really that simple.” Who could argue with that?

Why the 19th of September?

The date of the fateful racquetball match was the 6th of June, which is the anniversary of D-Day when the Allied forces landed at Normandy during World War II. For this reason, Bauer and Summers chose the alternative date of the 19th of September as it was easy for Summers to remember, given that it was his ex-wife’s birthday. This will be the 20th anniversary of their first celebration of Talk Like a Pirate Day.

How to Talk Like a Pirate

The Talk Like a Pirate Day founders John Baur and Mark Summers have created a guide on the official Talk Like a Pirate Day website for any budding buccaneers to help with the lingo.
First things first: find out your true pirate identity by taking the What’s My Pirate Name? quiz or for a quicker version, use the Pirate Name Generator.
Now you’re ready to introduce yourself! Start with the guide above or use a pirate translator to make sure you’re understood by your fellow scurvy dogs. Get your social media posts ship-shape with this translator.

How can I celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day?

Check out the official Talk Like a Pirate Day website for an interactive map of events happening worldwide to celebrate the day.
Binge watch the Pirates of the Caribbean movies with friends.
Use pirate lingo around the office.

Join the Childhood Cancer Support fundraiser. This chairty provides financial and emotional support to the families of childhood cancer sufferers by providing accommodation, recreational activities and community events for patients and their families. Visit their site to see how you can help.

What should I wear?

Here be our finest regalia for all ye murderous marauders and sea-faring rogues. If ye be hungry for more inspiration, get savvy with our History of Pirate Clothing or feast yer eyes on our full range of pirate costumes here — enough to fill Davy Jones’ locker twice over.

1. High Seas Buccaneer Mens Costume