AVAST MATEY, IT’S TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY

Arrrr ye scurvy scallyblog readers, today is TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY.

Here is the legendary tale of how this made-up holiday came to be:

By KIM NOWACKI
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
(Originally published on Sept. 18, 2004)

Arrr, if ye be a proud pirate, then pour a round for your Brethren of the Coast and prepare to splice the mainbrace, because Sunday is your day, matey.

That’s right, scurvy scallywags of the sea are finally getting the respect they deserve — and thanks be to a couple of Oregon blokes for turning us landlubbers on to how much fun it is to talk like a pirate.

“The thing has just taken off, it’s taken a life of its own,” says 49-year-old John “Ol’ Chumbucket” Baur, one of the co-creators of Talk Like A Pirate Day, a made-up holiday that’s receiving international observance.

“I think it’s because people want to have fun,” adds his shipmate, Mark “Cap’n Slappy” Summers, 41. “It’s almost like there’s these great masses of people waiting for permission to do it. Having a Talk Like A Pirate Day gives them that permission.”

From the glint in Errol Flynn’s eye to Capt. Hook’s devilishly playful demeanor to a Disney amusement park ride turned silver screen gem, folks love a good pirate.

“When people come in, I ask if they want to be pirates or ninjas,” says Debi Potter. “And most say pirates.”

Potter is the manager of the Valley Mall’s Hot Topic store, a retail chain that sells edgy clothing and jewelry. She’s seen a recent rise in people plunking down their hard-earned doubloons for pirate pizzazz such as skull-and-crossbones T-shirts, wrist cuffs and shoelaces.

“It’s kind of a rebel-type thing,” she explains. “People want something with a little fight in ‘em. You don’t mess with pirates.”

Yes, even in Yakima’s desert air, the Jolly Roger flies high, confirms Jules Nielsen, manager of Party Connection Costume & Balloonery.

Her store has doubled its pirate merchandise — eye patches, bandanas, feathered hats and plastic hooks — in preparation for Halloween.

“Pirates are really big with little kids,” says Nielsen, who pauses before adding, “and I’d have to add adults, too.”

And teenagers.

Jessica McPherson, a junior at Yakima’s Davis High School — home of the Pirates, of course — figures two things make pirates popular.

“Pirates are rebellious and a lot of teens are trying to be rebellious,” she says. “And Johnny Depp.”

Pirates got a definite boost from Depp’s Oscar-nominated performance as Captain Jack Sparrow in the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.”

That swashbuckling, grog-swilling, sea-faring brio is what Summers and Baur call “piratitude,” a topic covered in their recently self-published book, “Well Blow Me Down! The Guys Guide to Talking Like a Pirate,” available on their Web site www.talklikeapirate.com.

“I think the reason pirates are fun is because of that swagger,” says Baur. “You don’t get to swagger much in your everyday life. But when you’re being a pirate, it’s like you have permission to be — in a good-spirited way — to just be outrageous. People not only don’t condemn you for it, they play along.”

As the story goes, the idea for Talk Like A Pirate Day came to these two average Joes living in Albany, Ore., during a heated game of racquetball in the summer of 1995.

After one uttered a painful “Arrrr” during the game, they proceeded to complete the match talking only in pirate jargon. It was so much fun that they designated a whole day to the ship speak — the Sept. 19 date is Summers’ ex-wife’s birthday. (They say she doesn’t mind.)

Entirely due to a lack of trying, for seven years the holiday failed to catch on outside their group of friends. Then in early 2002, Summers and Baur contacted humor columnist Dave Barry and convinced him to endorse the holiday.

A Sept. 8, 2002, syndicated column by Barry first introduced the nation to Talk Like A Pirate Day and launched a sea dog revolution.

Now in its third year of international observance, TLAP — that’s the short version — is becoming an honored date of celebration.

According to e-mails sent to Summers’ and Baur’s Web site, the Quambone School in the middle of the Australian Outback, a military base in Baghdad and Club 90, a bar at the South Pole, all have TLAP parties in the works.

Closer to home, celebrations criss-cross the country.

The Flying Pie Pizzaria in Boise, Idaho, will host its second annual TLAP party Sunday, complete with a pirate-themed potty.

The men’s restroom is decorated with island murals and a skull-and-crossbones toilet bowl brush. The women’s bathroom is decked out with mermaids.

“Our crew has already started to print out their vocabulary lists,” says owner Howard Olivier. “We just want to have as much fun as those guys (Summers and Baur). It’s just a beautiful, perfect little thing.”

And tonight, three time zones over, the Delaware Art Museum — which houses the foremost collection of Howard Pyle pirate paintings — is hosting an extravagant TLAP party featuring Johnny Depp’s double from “Pirates of the Caribbean,” a Jimmy Buffett tribute band and live “mermaids.”

“This is such a great match for us. We love to walk like pirates, we love to talk like pirates,” says Janet Davis, assistant director of the museum. “It’s amazing how many closet pirates there are. And it’s a great release from all the stress and seriousness of our lives.

“You can’t be too serious when you’re drinking grog and walking the plank.”

TALKING PIRATE:
You gotta talk the talk if you want to make the switch from a lilly-livered landlubber to a swashbuckling buccaneer. Here are a few basic terms to get you started:
* Ahoy — Hello.
* Avast — Stop and give attention or exclamation of surprise.
* Aye — Yes.
* Bilge rat — An insult referring to the rats that infested the ship’s lowest level.
* Buccaneer — A general term for the Caribbean pirates.
* Grog — An alcoholic drink.
* Matey — A cheerful, but not necessarily friendly, greeting.
* Splice the mainbrace — To have a drink … or a couple.
* Yo-ho-ho — Just something pirates say.