Pirate Jargon, Sayings and Language
Pirate jargon, pirate lingo and pirate vocabulary are really fun. I can assure you that. So any of your pirate party games would feel more real and will become funnier if you use these pirate words and try to sound like a pirate.
This list is continued from part one of our guide to Pirate Words and part two, Pirate Sayings.
More Pirate jargon
Jack Ketch -- The hangman. To dance with Jack Ketch is to hang.
Jack Tar, or tar -- A sailor.
Jollyboat -- A small but happy craft in pirate jargon, perhaps even one which is a little dinghy.
Jolly Roger -- The pirates' skull-and-crossbones flag. It was an invitation to surrender, with the implication that those who surrendered would be treated well. A red flag indicated "no quarter."
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Keelhaul -- Punishment by dragging under the ship, from one side to the other. The victim of a keelhauling would be half-drowned, or worse, and lacerated by the barnacles that grew beneath the ship.
Kiss the gunner's daughter -- A punishment: to be bent over one of the ship's guns and flogged.
Lad, lass, lassie -- A way to address someone younger than you. As you see we keep today the first form of these three pirate words meaning pretty much the same in the present time: boy.
Landlubber or just lubber -- A non-sailor.
Letters of Marque -- Papers issued by a national government during wartime, entitling a privately owned ship to raid enemy commerce, or even attack enemy warships. Early letters of reprisal were issued to merchants to make it legal for them to counter-raid pirates! A ship bearing such letters, and operating within their limits, is a privateer rather than a pirate... that is, a legal combatant rather than a criminal and murderer. The problem is that letters of marque aren't always honored, even by the government that issued them. Captain Kidd had letters of marque; his own country hanged him anyway.
Lights -- Lungs. A pirate might threaten to "have someone's lights and liver."
Line -- A rope in use as part of the ship's rigging, or as a towing line. When a rope is just coiled up on deck, not yet being used for anything, it's all right to call it a rope.
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Lookout -- Someone posted to keep watch on the horizon for other ships or signs of land.
Lubber – (or land lubber) This is the seaman's version of land lover, mangled by typical pirate disregard for elocution. Then the word lubber becomes one of the more fierce weapons in your arsenal of piratical lingo. In a room where everyone is talking like pirates, lubber is ALWAYS an insult.
Maroon -- A fairly common punishment for violation of a pirate ship's articles, or offending her crew. The victim was left on a deserted coast (or, of course, an island) with little in the way of supplies. That way, no one could say that the unlucky pirate had actually been killed by his former brethren.
Me -- A piratical way to say "my."
Me hearties -- Typical way for a pirate leader to address his crew.
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Matey -- A pirate way to address someone in a cheerful, if not necessarily friendly, fashionable manner.
No quarter! -- Surrender will not be accepted.
On the Account -- The piratical life. A man who went "on the account" was turning pirate.
Piece of eight -- A Spanish silver coin worth one peso or 8 reales. It was sometimes literally cut into eight pieces, each worth one real.
Pillage -- To raid, rob, and sack a target ashore.
Pirate -- A seagoing robber and murderer. Contrast with privateer.
Poop deck -- The highest deck at the aft end of a large ship. Smaller ships don't have a poop; the highest part aft is the quarterdeck. As Homer Simpson once said, "Is the poop deck what I think it is?" And the answer is always no, unless ye wish ter be keelhauled!
Port -- (1) A seaport. (2) The left side of the ship when you are facing toward her prow.
Poxy, poxed -- Diseased. Used as an insult.
Privateer -- A ship bearing letters of marque (q.v.), or one of her crew, or her captain. Thus, she can only attack an enemy ship, and only in time of war, but does so as a representative of her country. A privateer is theoretically a law-abiding combatant, and entitled to be treated as an honorable prisoner if captured.
Prow -- The "nose" of the ship.
Reef -- (1) An underwater obstruction of rock or coral which can tear the bottom out of a ship. (2) To reef sails is to shorten them, tying them partially up, either to slow the ship or to keep a strong wind from putting too much strain on the masts.
Rope's end -- another of the pirate jargon standing for flogging. "Ye'll meet the rope's end for that, me bucko!"
Rum (noun) -- Traditional pirate drink.
Rum (adjective) -- Strange or odd. A "rum fellow" is a peculiar person, the sort who won't say "Arrrr!
Sail ho! -- "I see a ship!" The sail, of course, is the first part of a ship visible over the horizon.
Salt, old salt -- An experienced seaman.
Scuppers -- Openings along the edges of a ship's deck that allow water on deck to drain back to the sea rather than collecting in the bilges. "Scupper that!" is an expression of anger or derision in pirate jargon: "Throw that overboard!"
Scurvy -- (1) A deficiency disease which often afflicted sailors; it was caused by lack of vitamin C. (2) A derogatory adjective suitable for use in a loud voice, as in "Ye scurvy dogs!"
Sea dog -- An experienced seaman.
Shanty -- Another spelling for "chantey" - a sea song in pirate jargon.
Shark bait -- (1) Your foes, who are about to feed the fish (q.v.). (2) A worthless or lazy sailor; a lubber who is no use aboard ship.
Shipshape -- Well-organized, under control, finished.
Shiver me timbers! -- An expression of surprise or strong emotion.
Sink me! -- An expression of surprise.
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Smartly -- Quickly. "Smartly there, men!" = "Hurry up!"
Splice the mainbrace -- To have a drink. Or, perhaps, several drinks. A fun pirate jargon term!
Spyglass -- A telescope.
Starboard -- The right side of the ship when you are facing toward her prow. Not only pirate jargon, but general sailing terms.
Sutler -- A merchant in port, selling the various things that a ship needed for supplies and repairs.
Swab (noun) -- A disrespectful term for a seaman.
Swab (verb) -- To clean something. Being put to "swabbing the decks" would be a light punishment for a disobedient pirate.
Swag -- Loot.
Walk the plank -- A piratical execution. The victim, usually blindfolded or with bound hands or both, is forced to walk along a plank laid over the ship's side, to fall into the water below. Except this seems to be a total invention; it first appeared in 19th-century fiction, long after the great days of piracy.
Weigh anchor -- Pirate jargon meaning to haul the anchor up; more generally, to leave port.
Wench -- An individual of the female persuasion. "Saucy" is a good adjective to add to this, and if ye can get away with "Me proud beauty!," more power to ye.
Yo-ho-ho -- A very piratical thing to say, whether it actually means anything or not in pirate jargon.
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