Posted by Joy on September 19, 2008 at 15:54:13 user Joy.
In Reply to: Re: Shiver me timbers posted by Peter H on September 19, 2008 at 13:48:10:
I first came across Pirate Talk on BBC Radio 4's THE MILLION POUND RADIO SHOW by Nick Revell and Andy Hamilton. There was a sketch about a band of pirates who were demanding a Training Day in which they would be able to "compare work methods and prioritise objectives, damn your eyes!". The sketch laid down all the basics of pirate talk such as the fact that pirates always speaks in the present tense. The sketch has been frequently repeated, but I don't know whether it was influential in leading to the development of International Speak Like a Pirate Day.
It's pretty easy to adopt this way of speech - though best not to use it for more than 24 hours if one wishes to live. I suspect it falls into the comedy element of ooh-argh farmer's accents, high-pitched scientists and the like.