Pirate Speak - Expressions

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 * Pirate Expressions
 * Term
 * '''Definition"
 * addled
 * mad or insane
 * ahoy
 * An interjection used to hail a ship or a person or to attract attention.
 * Arr!
 * An exclamation.
 * avast
 * A command meaning stop or desist.
 * aye (or ay)
 * Yes; an affirmation.
 * batten down the hatches
 * Cover the hatches to the lower decks with canvas covers during a storm to prevent water from getting belowdecks.
 * bilge rat
 * (1) A rat living in the bilge of a ship. It is considered the lowliest creature by pirates, but many pirates take to eating the animals to survive. (2) An insulting name given by a pirate.
 * Blimey!
 * An exclamation of surprise.
 * blow the man down
 * to strike someone hard enough to bring him to the deck or to kill a man.
 * bucko
 * A familiar term meaning friend.
 * cackle fruit
 * Hens eggs
 * carouser
 * One who drinks wassail and engages in festivity, especially riotous drinking.
 * clap of thunder
 * A strong, alcoholic drink.
 * Come about
 * To bring the ship full way around in the wind. Used in general while sailing into the wind, but also used to indicate a swing back into the enemy in combat.
 * crack Jenny's teacup
 * To spend the night in a house of ill-repute or visit Scarlet and Cassandra.
 * crimp
 * To procure (sailors or soldiers) by trickery or coercion, or one who crimps.
 * dance the hempen jig
 * To hang.
 * Davy Jones' Locker
 * A fictional place at the bottom of the ocean. In short, a term meaning death. Davy Jones was said to sink every ship he ever over took, and thus, the watery grave that awaited all who were sunk by him was given his name. To die at sea is to go to Davy Jones' Locker.
 * Deadlights
 * (1) Strong shutters or plates fastened over a ship's porthole or cabin window in stormy weather. (2) Thick windows set in a ship's side or deck. (3) Eyes. ie: "Use yer deadlights, matey!"
 * dead men tell no tales
 * Standard pirate excuse for leaving no survivors.
 * dredgie
 * ghost or ghosts of pirates dead by betrayal
 * fire in the hole
 * A warning issued before a cannon is fired.
 * gangway
 * (1) A passage along either side of a ships upper deck. (2) A gangplank. (3) An interjection used to clear a passage through a crowded area.
 * Give no quarter
 * Show no mercy
 * grog blossom
 * A redness on the nose or face of persons who drink ardent spirits to excess.
 * handsomely
 * Quickly or carefully; in a shipshape style.
 * hang the jib
 * To pout or frown.
 * haul wind
 * To direct a ship into the wind.
 * hearties
 * term to refer to fellowship among sailors
 * "helm's a-lee!" (also "all hands about ship!")
 * a shouted warning to the crew that the ship is about to make a turn, most often used when tacking. When turning sharply, sails and mast spars might shift position suddenly.
 * hempen halter
 * The hangmans noose.
 * ho
 * Used to express surprise or joy, to attract attention to something sighted, or to urge onward as in Land ho! or Westward ho!
 * hornswaggle
 * to cheat
 * Jack Ketch
 * famed English executioner - became shorthand for death at the hands of the law
 * Jack Tar
 * Common name for sailors of the Royal Navy.
 * kiss the gunner's daughter
 * A punishment consisting of being hoisted over one of the ship's guns and flogged.
 * knave
 * A servant boy or a dishonorable man. Also a Jack in a deck of cards.
 * lad
 * A way to address a younger male.
 * landlubber or lubber
 * A person unfamiliar with the sea or seamanship. The term doesn't derive from "land lover," but rather from the root of lubber, meaning clumsy or uncoordinated. Thus, a landlubber is one who is awkward at sea for familiarity with the land. The term is used to insult the abilities of one at sea.
 * lass
 * A way to address a younger female.
 * loaded to the gunwall
 * To be drunk.
 * loose in stays
 * An expression that specifically refers to a ship that frequently "misses stays" or stalls out and fails to complete a turn while tacking. But often used generally as an expression for a ship that has slack discipline or is poorly handled
 * loot
 * Stolen goods; money.
 * matey
 * A piratical way to address someone in a cheerful, if not necessarily friendly, fashion.
 * me
 * My or mine.
 * measured fer yer chains
 * To be outfitted for a gibbet cage or imprisonment.
 * Nelsons folly
 * Another name for Rum.
 * nipper
 * A short length of rope used to bind an anchor cable. Also a term to describe a very young child.
 * no prey, no pay
 * A common pirate law meaning a crew received no wages, but rather shared whatever loot was taken.
 * no quarter
 * An instruction that an enemy crew is to be shown no mercy. There are to be no survivors.
 * parley (sometimes incorrectly "parlay")
 * A conference or discussion between opposing sides during a dispute. The term was used in Pirates of the Caribbean as form of temporary protection until the captive could discuss their fate with the captain himself.
 * plunder
 * To take booty; rob.
 * rope's end
 * Another term for flogging. ie: "Ye'll meet the rope's end for that, me bucko!"
 * rum
 * An intoxicating beverage, specifically an alcoholic liquor distilled from fermented molasses or sugar cane.
 * run a rig
 * To play a trick.
 * Run a shot across the bow
 * A command to fire a warning shot.
 * sail ho!
 * Exclamation alerting others that another ship is in view
 * scallywag
 * A villanious or bothersome person
 * scourge of the seven seas
 * A pirate known for his extremely violent and brutal nature.
 * Sea Legs
 * The ability to adjust one's balance to the motion of a ship, especially in rough seas. After walking on a ship for long periods of time, sailors became accustomed to the rocking of the ship in the water. Early in a voyage a sailor was said to be lacking his "sea legs" when the ship motion was still foreign to him. After a cruise, a sailor would often have trouble regaining his "land legs" and would swagger on land.
 * shark bait
 * Someone thrown overboard
 * Shiver Me Timbers!
 * An expression of surprise or fear.
 * sink me!
 * An expression of surprise -- as in: "Your friend hasn't made a Pirate yet? You've got to be sinking me!"
 * smartly
 * Quickly. "Smartly there, men!" = "Hurry up!"
 * splice the mainbrace
 * an order given aboard ships to issue the crew with a drink of rum or grog; To have a drink or perhaps several drinks.
 * spirits
 * alcoholic beverages; particularly distilled liquor
 * squiffy
 * Somewhat intoxicated; tipsy.
 * Step To
 * a command to move quickly
 * strike colors
 * To lower, specifically a ship's flag as a signal of surrender.
 * strike sails
 * Bring in the sails; either furling them, or taking them completely off the yards
 * studdingsails
 * Square sails that are rigged to extra yards that are lashed to and extra further out from the primary yards, they extend the width of the sails on a square-rigged ship
 * swab
 * (1) To clean, specifically the deck of a ship. (2) A disrespectful term for a seaman. ie: "Man that gun, ye cowardly swabs!"
 * swag
 * loot
 * take a caulk
 * To take a nap. On deck of a ship, between planks, was a thick caulk of black tar and rope to keep water from between decks. This term came about either because sailors who slept on deck ended up with black lines across their backs or simply because sailors laying down on deck were as horizontal as the caulk of the deck itself.
 * wench
 * A young woman or peasant girl, sometimes a serving girl or even prostitute.
 * ye
 * You.
 * yo-ho-ho
 * An exclamation associated with pirates.
 * -}
 * To take booty; rob.
 * rope's end
 * Another term for flogging. ie: "Ye'll meet the rope's end for that, me bucko!"
 * rum
 * An intoxicating beverage, specifically an alcoholic liquor distilled from fermented molasses or sugar cane.
 * run a rig
 * To play a trick.
 * Run a shot across the bow
 * A command to fire a warning shot.
 * sail ho!
 * Exclamation alerting others that another ship is in view
 * scallywag
 * A villanious or bothersome person
 * scourge of the seven seas
 * A pirate known for his extremely violent and brutal nature.
 * Sea Legs
 * The ability to adjust one's balance to the motion of a ship, especially in rough seas. After walking on a ship for long periods of time, sailors became accustomed to the rocking of the ship in the water. Early in a voyage a sailor was said to be lacking his "sea legs" when the ship motion was still foreign to him. After a cruise, a sailor would often have trouble regaining his "land legs" and would swagger on land.
 * shark bait
 * Someone thrown overboard
 * Shiver Me Timbers!
 * An expression of surprise or fear.
 * sink me!
 * An expression of surprise -- as in: "Your friend hasn't made a Pirate yet? You've got to be sinking me!"
 * smartly
 * Quickly. "Smartly there, men!" = "Hurry up!"
 * splice the mainbrace
 * an order given aboard ships to issue the crew with a drink of rum or grog; To have a drink or perhaps several drinks.
 * spirits
 * alcoholic beverages; particularly distilled liquor
 * squiffy
 * Somewhat intoxicated; tipsy.
 * Step To
 * a command to move quickly
 * strike colors
 * To lower, specifically a ship's flag as a signal of surrender.
 * strike sails
 * Bring in the sails; either furling them, or taking them completely off the yards
 * studdingsails
 * Square sails that are rigged to extra yards that are lashed to and extra further out from the primary yards, they extend the width of the sails on a square-rigged ship
 * swab
 * (1) To clean, specifically the deck of a ship. (2) A disrespectful term for a seaman. ie: "Man that gun, ye cowardly swabs!"
 * swag
 * loot
 * take a caulk
 * To take a nap. On deck of a ship, between planks, was a thick caulk of black tar and rope to keep water from between decks. This term came about either because sailors who slept on deck ended up with black lines across their backs or simply because sailors laying down on deck were as horizontal as the caulk of the deck itself.
 * wench
 * A young woman or peasant girl, sometimes a serving girl or even prostitute.
 * ye
 * You.
 * yo-ho-ho
 * An exclamation associated with pirates.
 * -}
 * strike sails
 * Bring in the sails; either furling them, or taking them completely off the yards
 * studdingsails
 * Square sails that are rigged to extra yards that are lashed to and extra further out from the primary yards, they extend the width of the sails on a square-rigged ship
 * swab
 * (1) To clean, specifically the deck of a ship. (2) A disrespectful term for a seaman. ie: "Man that gun, ye cowardly swabs!"
 * swag
 * loot
 * take a caulk
 * To take a nap. On deck of a ship, between planks, was a thick caulk of black tar and rope to keep water from between decks. This term came about either because sailors who slept on deck ended up with black lines across their backs or simply because sailors laying down on deck were as horizontal as the caulk of the deck itself.
 * wench
 * A young woman or peasant girl, sometimes a serving girl or even prostitute.
 * ye
 * You.
 * yo-ho-ho
 * An exclamation associated with pirates.
 * -}
 * A young woman or peasant girl, sometimes a serving girl or even prostitute.
 * ye
 * You.
 * yo-ho-ho
 * An exclamation associated with pirates.
 * -}
 * An exclamation associated with pirates.
 * -}