Talk like a pirate day

From my word-a-day email:

Every September 19 people around the world celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day. It's been marked on all continents -- even Antarctica. Why?Because it's fun, it's anarchic. Its very whimsy -- trying to get everyoneon the planet to talk like a stereotypical Caribbean buccaneer on the sameday each year -- sets it apart from other holidays.The holiday had its genesis during a racquetball game between John Baur and Mark Summers, two friends in Albany, Oregon. It was a private joke thatwent around the world. The rest is, if not history, at least a good story, which you can read at their Web site http://www.talklikeapirate.com

.To help you celebrate the day this year, we offer a sampling of words basedon pirate lingo.A note -- I've often heard people talk about pirates' "cockney accents."Wrong! The stereotypical pirate has a Cornish accent, based on theperformance of Long John Silver by actor Robert Newton in the 1950 Disneyversion of "Treasure Island". He was from Cornwall, and his over-the-topperformance and native accent are the reason people think that's what a pirate sounded like. Of course, pirates came from all nationalities. But the pop culture image is firmly embedded, and Robert Newton is the reason why.(John Baur worked 23 years in the newspaper business and two years as auniversity science writer before casting his lot as a pirate author and performer. He and Summers are co-authors of the book "Pirattitude!")