What Is International Talk Like a Pirate Day?
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Some days, you just feel the need to talk like a pirate. Today, you can do exactly that. Every year, on September 19th, International Talk Like a Pirate Day gives anyone with this urge permission to go full seadog.
Where did such a seemingly random holiday come from? Get to know International Talk Like a Pirate Day below – maybe you’ll decide you want to join in on the fun, matey.
How International Talk Like a Pirate Day started
On June 5th, 1995, John Baur and Mark Summers were playing racquetball. Nothing about the day resembled anything out of the ordinary until one of the men sustained an injury. Many people shout in pain upon being injured, and the injured man – neither Baur nor Summers has ever revealed which one was injured – went a step farther and shouted “Arr!” the way a pirate might.
Baur and Summers claim that this injured pirate shout followed plenty of pirate-based banter between them during their racquetball game. They remember the “Arr!” moment, however, as exactly when they realized they had something on their hands. After their racquetball game ended, the two realized not just that they had spoken in pirate slang pretty much the entire time, but that doing so made their game way more fun. That’s when they decided to introduce International Talk Like a Pirate Day to the world.
How Talk Like a Pirate Day first went International
Baur and Summers mapped out their course towards making International Talk Like a Pirate Day a global phenomenon with full intentionality. The obvious solution would have been to celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day on the anniversary of their fated racquetball game. This idea ultimately proved a non-starter, as Baur and Summers felt June 5th was too close to June 6th, on which veterans honor the World War II event D-Day.
Summers then suggested September 19th, which was his ex-wife’s birthday, a date the two would be unlikely to forget. For the next many years, the duo celebrated International Pirate Day with one friend, Brian Rhodes, whom the two credit with keeping the tradition going more strongly than they did. The celebration remained solely theirs until 2002, when Baur decided to tell widely followed humor columnist Dave Barry about International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
Upon Barry enthusiastically latching onto the idea, International Talk Like a Pirate Day was fully born. Barry’s column in a prominent regional newspaper on September 8th, 2002 first introduced the day to a wider audience, and since then, enthusiastic buckos the world over have gotten in plenty of ahoys and ayes annually on September 19th.
How you can celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day
Looking to celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day with your lads? Talking like a pirate is just one part of the fun. Some food chains give away discounted or free food to customers who dress as pirates. Some social media platforms offer options to change your language to Pirate. Some enthusiasts will even host events specific to International Talk Like a Pirate Day, where mates from all over the world can gather in search of prizes and booty (the kind that pirates like).
What do you think of International Talk Like a Pirate Day? Sound off in the comments!