If the Gold Coast wanted to set a date to announce their mascot will be the Pirates, I can think of no better day than September 19 - International Talk Like A Pirate Day.
http://www.yarr.org.uk/
How to be talkin' like a Pirate!
This advice be from a pirate by the alias of wunderhorn1, who be postin' his information here and kindly gave permission for us to be usin' it.
Double up on all your adjectives and you'll be bountifully bombastic with your phrasing. Pirates never speak of "a big ship", they call it a "great, grand ship!" They never say never, they say "No nay ne'er!"
Drop all your "g"'s when you speak and you'll get words like "rowin'", "sailin'" and "fightin'". Dropping all of your "v"'s will get you words like "ne'er", "e'er" and "o'er".
Instead of saying "I am", sailors say, "I be". Instead of saying "You are", sailors say, "You be". Instead of saying, "They are", sailors say, "They be".
[Cap'n Tony adds that ye should use 'yarr' as a general cheer, as well as to start some o' yer sentences.]
[Several pirates also added that ye always be speakin' in the present tense - never the past or future!]
Pirate vocabulary:
Arrrrr: Much like the Hawaiian "aloha," it can mean hello, good-bye, etc.
Ahoy: Hey!
Avast: Stop!
Aye: Yes.
Fathom: depth measurement of six feet
Go on the account: to embark on a piratical cruise
Grog: A pirate's favorite drink.
Jack: a flag or a sailor
Landlubber: "Land-lover," someone not used to life onboard a ship.
Lass: A woman.
League: three miles
List: lean to one side
Loaded to the Gunwales (pron. gunnels): drunk
Matey: A shipmate or a friend.
Me: My.
Privateer: a pirate officially sanctioned by a national power
Scallywag: A bad person. A scoundrel.
Son of a Biscuit Eater: a derogatory term indicating a bastard son of a sailor
Sprogs: raw, untrained recruits
Squiffy: a buffoon
Squadron: a group of ten or less warships
Sweet trade: the career of piracy
Thar: The opposite of "here."
Yo-ho-ho: Pirate laughter
Arrrrr....
Sound advice. And we also be havin' these words submitted by cap'ns on the high seas:
Wi' a wannion:
Cap'n Crap Beard also be emailin' me to say that wi' a wannion be pirate-speak for with a curse, or with a vengeance.
Shiver me timbers!:
Cap'n Andy cannot be believin' that we be missin' out "Shiver me timbers!", which be an exclamation of surprise.
Cat o' nine tails:
Cap'n Tucker be noticin' that we not be havin' cat o' nine tails, the whip for floggin' mutineers, and land ho, which be yelled from the crows' nest when ye be sightin' land.
Lily-livered:
Cap'n Keelhaul be remindin' us of lily-livered, meanin' faint o' heart, and also...
Keelhaul: which be a truly vicious punishment where a sailor be tied to a rope and dragged along the barnacle-encrusted bottom of a ship - thanks to Shoeless Jess for the all-too-graphic description.
Booty:
Dirty Anne Flint say we be forgettin' booty (treasure) and 'avast, ye sea dogs!', which be loosely translated as 'hey! you lot!'
Davy Jones' Locker:
Cap'n Buckley reminded us o' the term Davy Jones' Locker for the bottom o' the sea.
Doubloons:
Cap'n Nightingale told us of doubloons, pieces of gold...
Hang 'em from the yardarm:
...and also of this hideous piratical punishment.
Pieces o' eight:
Cap'n Lurrie corrected an earlier entry - pieces o' eight, be meanin' pieces o' silver which can be cut into eights to be givin' small change.
Swabbies!:
- an' also o' this insult for other seamen.
Wench:
Burnin' Byron told us o' this term for a lady, although ye not be wantin' to use this around a lady who be stronger than ye.
Swashbucklin':
The Dread Red Ed emailed to remind us o' this term for fightin' and carousin' on the high seas!
Buccanneer:
- an 'also this term for a pirate who be answerin' to no man or blasted government.
Scurvy dog!:
About a dozen pirates be emailin' to remind me o' this fine insult!
Walk the plank:
Many cap'ns also reminded us o' this punishment...
Black spot:
an' also o' this - to be 'placin' the black spot' be markin' someone for death.
Jolly Roger:
an' also o' this name for the pirate flag.
Me hearty:
Many pirates be emailin' to tell us o' this term for a friend or shipmate.
Gentlemen o' fortune:
Cap'n Seagy emailed wi' this slightly more positive term for pirates!
Corsair:
A corsair be a pirate who be makin' his berth in the Med-...Medi-...that sea 'tween Spain and Africa, aye! (thank ye, Cap'n Fuji, who also be sendin' the next 'un)
By the Powers!:
Cap'n Henry Somerset wrote in to tell us o' this piratey exclamation, uttered by Long John Silver in Treasure Island!
Fiddlers Green:
Cap'n Innes emailed about this place, the private heaven where pirates be goin' when they die.
Gallows meat:
What a pirate'll be, if he be caught... (thank ye, Rose o' the Rampant Stag)
Swaggy:
A scurvy cur's ship what ye be intendin' to loot! (Bloody Jak Cur, thank ye for this an' the next)
Furner:
A ship which be yer own, not one ye steal an' plunder.
If ye be havin' examples o' pirate talk that not be here, you should be emailin' the web cap'n at the address below! But owin' to a flood o'email that I be gettin recently, I now only be addin' SHORT, PIRATICAL words, not merely nautical ones an' not bloody phrases!
(Also, be ye aware that savvy an' parlay be no more piratical than a scurvy KaZaA landlubber usin' dialup: they be invented by Disney for their film. The real pirates' code be here - be notin' that parlay not be in thar!)