What are pirates in slang?
Usage. The most common usage is Australian slang for a man searching around for casual sex, as in "on the pirate" or the verb "to pirate". It has also been used to describe a pimp who steals a prostitute from another pimp. A more recent slang usage is a fictitious sex act called "the pirate" or "the angry pirate".
Making many regular appearances on September 19 are expletives like “timbers”, “shiver me timbers” and “sash me timbers” – all nautical exclamations from the late 18th century. Timber was a slang term for “wooden leg” (“timber toe” meant “man with a wooden leg”).
- Rapscallion. ...
- Galley Slave. ...
- We'll rip and burn yer jolly roger! ...
- Scabby sea bass. ...
- Dance with Jack Ketch. ...
- Dead men tell no tales. ...
- Hands off me booty! ...
- Ye lily-livered!
All you have to do is talk in a deep, gravelly voice, grunt and growl a lot, use insults abundantly, yell “arr!” every now and then, mumble incoherently from all the rum you've drunk, slur your words, give up g's and v's in most words, and replace “you” and your“ with “ye” and “yer”.
Ahoy – A pirate greeting or a way to get someone's attention, similar to “Hello” or “hey!”. Arrr, Arrgh, Yarr, Gar – Pirates slang used to emphasize a point. Avast – Pirate speak for pay attention. Aye aye – Confirmation that an order is understood.
Ahoy, Me Hearties! All Hand Hoy! Everyone get on deck! Pay attention and check this out!
Most scholars think English-speaking Golden Age pirates spoke exactly the same as English-speaking merchant sailors of the time, since large numbers in both groups tended to be from riverfront neighborhoods around London, he said.
' Say 'aye' in place of yes, but don't say "nay" in place of no - not unless you want to talk like a pirate politician.
The term was popularized by a (fictional) pirate shanty in the novel Treasure Island (1883) by Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) – see the quotation – but appears in earlier songs of sailors.
“Wherever we want to go, we'll go.”
What are Sailor curse words?
- Chowder-headed: Stupid, or batter-brained.
- Jack Nasty-Face: A cook's assistant.
- Jaw-me-down: An arrogant, overbearing and unsound loud arguer.
- Lubber: An awkward, unseamanlike fellow.
- Shaking a cloth in the wind: In galley parlance, expresses being slightly intoxicated.
- Wishy-washy: Any too-weak beverage.
Aaaarrrrgggghhhh! | Pirate catch phrase of grumbling or disgust |
---|---|
Weigh Anchor and Hoist the Mizzen! | An order to the crew to pull up the anchor and get this ship sailing! |
Wench | A woman or peasant girl |
Ye | You |

A pirate code, pirate articles, or articles of agreement were a code of conduct for governing pirates. A group of sailors, on turning pirate, would draw up their own code or articles, which provided rules for discipline, division of stolen goods, and compensation for injured pirates.
Pronounced also as “Yarrr!” and “Arg!”, the word “Arrr!” is traditionally said by pirates when responding "yes" or when expressing excitement.
Ahoy. Ahoy is the most versatile pirate word used in movies and books. Sailors use it to call to other ships, greet each other, warn of danger, or say goodbye.
Matey: What pirates call each other/fellow shipmates.
Ahoy - A pirate greeting, or a shout to attract an attention.
hands. The crew of a ship; sailors.
After reaching land, a pirate or sailor would sometimes have trouble regaining his “land legs” and would consequently swagger on land. Shiver me timbers! Was used by pirates to express surprise or strong emotion. Show a leg!
The phrase is based on real nautical slang and is a reference to the timbers, which are the wooden support frames of a sailing ship. In heavy seas, ships would be lifted up and pounded down so hard as to "shiver" the timbers, startling the sailors.
What did pirates call themselves?
In casual conversation the words pirate, buccaneer, and corsair tend to be used more or less interchangeably. Some people, possibly to prove they paid attention in history class, also throw around privateer.
The Origins of the Pirate Accent. Ask people to imitate a pirate, and they instinctually adopt the “pirate accent” immortalized in film and television. This unique brogue is renowned for it's strong “r” sound, as in “yarrr” and “arrrrr.”
barque (also bark) A sailing ship with from three to five masts, all of them square rigged except the after mast, which is fore and aft rigged; a small vessel that is propelled by oars or sails.
'Ahoy' originated in the seafaring world, where it was used as an interjection to catch the attention of crew members and as a general greeting. It is often used today by participants in playful imitations of pirate speak.
Sailors and pirates tended to be very superstitious - that is, they had a fear of the unknown and used it to explain misfortune (bad things that happened). Living and working on a ship in the middle of the seven seas was a very dangerous job.