Today is Talk Like a Pirate Day! So you’ll no be doubt talking in a pirate growl, doing your best Long John Silver or Captain Jack Sparrow impersonation. However, what you may not realize is on a daily basis you could already be talking like a pirate, or at least a sailor. Many common phrases that we use today have their origins in nautical terms.
Take for example, if you are “Feeling Blue.” The connection of sadness with the color comes from mourning at sea. If a captain or an officer died at sea, the crew would would fly a blue flag, or paint a blue line on the ship’s hull.
However, if you are showing your “True Colors,” you are definitely not acting like a pirate. It was a common pirate trick to sail under a flag that was not their own, thus taking an unsuspecting ship by surprise with their false colors.
Speaking of surprise, I’m sure this post accusing you of talking like a pirate may lead you to feel “Taken Aback.” This may come as a shock to you, but in the days of sailing the high seas, not all helmsmen paid attention to their job. Sometimes they were caught off-guard and allowed the wind to be on the wrong side of the sails. Thus blowing them flat against the mast, which could force them to change direction, or be taken aback.
Now I know it is a “Long Shot,” that you use these nautical terms as originally intended. Just like it was a long shot that given the uncertain accuracy of muzzle loaded cannons, especially in the heat of battle, pirates could hit their target when fired from a moving deck at sea. Luck is definitely needed in both situations!
But don’t you go accusing me of being a “Loose Cannon!” Today it means someone who is unpredictable and uncontrollable, just like when a cannon came loose on a the deck of a pitching and rolling ship.
Instead, I prefer to be independent and “Aloof.” However, that wasn’t always a good thing either. Back in the day, this word of Dutch seafaring origins referred to a ship that was drawn away from the fleet by the wind. Thus being aloof was definitely not a good thing with pirates lurking, looking for an easy target!
If someone happens to accuse you of being “Idle,” take it as a compliment! An Idler was a term of status on long voyages. It meant your job was needed during the day, such as the cook or carpenter, and you were therefore excused from night watch. They weren’t lazy! They needed their rest to perform their job, just like you need rest to do yours.
But oh the poor sailor to be “Under the Weather” on a ship! The worst watch station was on the “weather” or windward side of the bow. Those assigned there were exposed to the constant pitching and rolling of the ship, while being soaked from waves crashing over the bow. This often led sailors to become sick, which led to the phrase under the weather, because they would go below deck away from the weather to recuperate.
Today a doctor may give you a “Clean Bill of Health,” which was also good news to hear on a ship. It meant that the port authority found no signs of sickness or contagious diseases, before leaving port. Although I suspect most pirate ships set sail without this document. They weren’t big fans of government paperwork.
If you made it this far into my explanation, thank you for being in it for the “Long Haul,” which by the way referred to hauling in long lines of rope used during the golden age of sail.
Just don’t accuse me of being a “Filibuster!” Although associated now with a politician’s prolonged speech to delay a vote, its original meaning came from the Dutch word vrijbuiter for “freebooter,” which was someone who plundered and pillaged. The French added their own pronunciation making it flibustier, and applied it to pirates. The English then borrowed the term, pronouncing it filibuster. Which anyone pirate or not, would agree my explanation of filibuster is very long winded, so we’ll end it here and not explain its connection to politics.
However, before I go, there is one term that everyone will be saying today, but not normally used in everyday conversations. Yet if Alexander Graham Bell had his way, every time the phone rang, we’d be answering it with “Ahoy!” Bell thought this term, used for greeting a ship, was the perfect way to greet someone on the phone. However, Thomas Edison, who was a rival to Bell, urged users to say hello when using his phone, and even managed to get that phrase published in manuals on how to use the telephone. So in honor of Alexander Graham Bell and in the spirit of Talk Like a Pirate Day, I recommend answering all calls today with a hearty Ahoy!
If you would like to learn more about nautical phrases used by landlubbers today, we recommend articles written on the subject by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Crew Seekers, and the Grammarist.
I hope this post tides you over, which now means making something last until a new supply arrives. Yet back in the golden age of sail to “Tide Over” meant there was no wind in your sails to keep you moving, so you had no choice but to float along with the tide. Similar to how now you just have to float along with the tide of your scrolling, until tomorrow when I bring you another blog post!
