Pirate Lingo
(For more, check out Red Cap O’Brien’s website www.geocities.com/redcapobrien.indexii.html)
– Ahoy: Pirate greeting. “Hello!”
– Arrgh!: A multipurpose pirate exclamation. “Arrgh! Thar she blows!”
– Belay: Stop that. “Belay that talk!” would mean “Shut up!”
– Dead men tell no tales: Standard pirate excuse for leaving no survivors.
– Grog: Generally, any alcoholic drink. Specifically, rum diluted with water.
– Landlubber: Any nonsailor.
– Lad, lass: A way to address someone younger than you.
– Wench: Generally, any woman. Specifically, a serving girl or barmaid.
– Yo-ho-ho: A very piratical thing to say, whether it actually means anything or not.
Pirate Grub & Grog
– Piraat beer: This imported Belgium beer not only boasts a pirate ship and scruffy, knife-wielding buccaneer on the label, but contains 10.5% alcohol – twice that of yer landlubber beer.
– Pirate’s Booty: Indulge ye piratical lust for all things salty with this crunchy, tasty, white-cheddar flavored puffed snack. Blimey! Unlike the Cheetos, these addictive snacks are low in fat so ye can still fit into yer corset!
– Captain Morgan’s Original Spiced Rum – Drink up, ye salty dogs and portly wenches! This bevy is pirate-approved!
– Dried fish, salt tack and sea biscuits – The old school pirate grub for ye diehard crusty sailors…
Pirate Fashion Do’s and Don’ts – Pegged Pants, In. Pegged Legs, Out.
Yea!
– Striped shirts (horizontal stripes, preferably of the black and gray or black and red variety)
– Pegged pants (skinny black canvas or twill jeans, often with cargo pockets to carry yer loot, high-water hem to keep yer ankles dry, ragged hem optional)
– For ye wenches, fishnet stockings, asymmetrical skirts, and waist-cinching corset tops warm the coldest pirates’ hearts.
– Bullet belts, studded belts – pile ’em on!
Nay!
– Full-sleeved, billowing, frilled pirate shirts (the romance novel associations are atrocious)
– Eye patches (so fashionable, yet so sight-impairing – arrgh!)
– Peglegs (ditch the wood and save a tree)
– Parrots on the shoulder (real birds poop – save this look for Captain Hook)
Pirate Rock – Bands Who Don the Jolly Roger
’60s Garage and ’70s Glam
– Johnny Kidd & the Pirates
– David Bowie
– The New York Dolls – think “Pirate Love”
’77 Punk to ’80s New Romantic Pop
– Sex Pistols (Via Vivienne Westwood’s designs, these British punks introduced the skull and crossbones-emblazoned T-shirts, loose-knit mohair sweaters and, – thanks to drummer Paul Cook – the unattractive deckhand skullcap to the punk fashion vocabulary.)
-The Ramones (This iconic punk band was not only the first to write singalong songs about sniffing glue, but also to make the post-pirate look of ripped jeans, striped tees, beat up Chucks and the shaggy bowl haircut derigeur for punk brats for decades to come.)
– Adam and the Ants
– Dead or Alive (“You spin me right round baby, right round… “)
– Boy George (Please don’t try this look at home.)
’90s Punk to Indie Today
– Flogging Molly – These ale swillers sing a lot more about being Irish than being pirates, but they’ve got a bit o’ the ol’ swashbuckling blood in ’em… and they drink… a lot! Yarrgh.
– The Murder City Devils – With songs about drinking rum and losing your girl to a sailor, MCD is quintessentially rawkus pirate punk (and with the tats to prove it).
– The Black Heart Procession – Spooky haunted pirate ship dirges about broken hearts played on creaky Farfisa organs… what else would you expect from a bunch of emo kids from San Diego?
– The Decemberists – Pretty, melodic indie rock from a Kill Rock Stars band that writes songs glorifying a pirate’s lovelorn life on the high seas. Catch them on tour this summer…
