Yo ho ho! Cap’n and Swab on the poop deck!
| The GalleyPirates Dictionary | |
| A | |
| Addled | Mad, insane, or just stupid. An “addlepate” is a fool. |
| Aft | Short for “after.” Toward the rear of the ship. |
| Ahoy | Hello! |
| Arghhh | Hmmmm |
| Arr | Yes/That’s great/I agree |
| Avast! | Hey! Could also be used as “Stop that!” or “Who goes there?” |
| Aye | Yes, definitely. |
| Aye Aye | Of course, I’ll do that right away. |
|
B |
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| Barbary Coast | Mediterranean coast off of North Africa. |
| Be | Use instead of ‘am’, ‘are’ or ‘is’. |
| Begad! | By God! |
| Belay | Stop that. “Belay that talk!” would mean “Shut up!” |
| Bilboes | Leg irons attached to the deck of a ship. |
| Bilge | The dirtiest, smelliest and lowest part of a ship. |
| Bilge rat | A rat that lives in the dirtiest, smelliest and lowest part of a ship. This is not a nice name to call somebody. |
| Bilge! | Nonsense, or foolish talk. The bilges of a ship are the lowest parts, inside the hull along the keel. They fill with stinking bilgewater—or just “bilge.” |
| Bilge-sucking | A very uncomplimentary adjective. |
| Black Spot | To “place the Black Spot” on another pirate is to sentence him to death, to warn him he is marked for death, or sometimes just to accuse him of a serious crime before other pirates. |
| Black Spotted | A person/animal that has had a curse put on them. |
| Blaggard | Blackguard. An insult. |
| Blimey! | An exclamation of surprise; WOW! |
| Booty | Loot; Riches that have probably been stolen. |
| Bosun | Boatswain, a petty officer. |
| Bounty | A reward, usually paid by the Government for the capture of a criminal. |
| Buccanneer | Pirates, usually from Hispaniola, who attacked Spanish ships in the Caribbean. |
| Bucko | Familiar term. “Me bucko” = “my friend.” |
| C | |
| Cap’n | Short for “captain.” |
| Careen | To clean the hull of a ship. |
| Cat o’nine tails | A whip with many lashes, used for flogging. “A taste of the cat” might refer to a full flogging, or just a single blow to “smarten up” a recalcitrant hand. |
| Chantey | A sailor’s work song. Also spelled “shantey” or “shanty.” |
| Convoy | A group of ships traveling together. |
| Corsair | A more romantic term for pirates in the Mediterranean. |
| Crow’s Nest | A lookout point at the top of the highest mast of a ship. |
| Cutlass | A curved sword, often used by sailors. |
| D | |
| Davy Jones’ locker | The bottom of the sea. |
| Dead men tell no tales | Standard pirate excuse for leaving no survivors. |
| Deadlights | Eyes. “Use yer deadlights, matey!” |
| Deck – The highest floor on a ship. | Deck – The highest floor on a ship. |
| Deckhand | A person working on a ship, sometimes shortened to ‘hand’. |
| Dog | A mild insult, perhaps even a friendly one. |
| Doubloon | An old Spanish gold coin. At different times, it was worth either 4 or 16 silver pesos, or “pieces of eight.” |
| F | |
| Fair winds! | Goodbye, good luck! |
| Feed the fish | What you do when you are thrown into the sea, dead or alive. |
| Flog | To whip. |
| Flogging | Punishment by caning, or by whipping with the cat. |
| Fore, or forrard | Toward the front end of the ship. |
| G | |
| Galleon | A large, squarish ship used in war or to carry cargo. |
| Gangway! | “Get out of my way!” |
| Godspeed! | Goodbye, good luck! |
| Grog | Rum mixed with water or any kind of alcohol. |
| Grub | Food. |
| H | |
| Hands | The crew of a ship; sailors. |
| Handsomely | Quickly. “Handsomely now, men!” = “Hurry up!” |
| Haven | A safe place. |
| Heave to | To change the direction of the ship so it is facing forwards into the wind. |
| Hold | The space in a ship where cargo or prisoners were kept. |
| Hornpipe | A dance or a single reeded musical instrument. |
| Hornswaggle | To cheat. |
| Hornswaggler | A person who cheats. |
| Hulk | The old, dismantled body of a ship, sometimes used as prisons. |
| Hull | The body of a ship, not including the masts and rigging. |
| J | |
| Jack Ketch | The hangman. To dance with Jack Ketch is to hang. |
| Jack Tar | Sailor |
| 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.” |
| Jollyboat | A small but happy craft, perhaps even one which is a little dinghy. |
| K | |
| Keel | The main framework of a ship that runs from the front to the back at the bottom of the ship. |
| 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. |
| L | |
| Lad, lass, lassie | A way to address someone younger than you. |
| Land ahoy! | ‘I see land.’ |
| Land lubber or lubber | A person who likes being on land; a non-sailor, often used as an insult. |
| Lass | Young woman. |
| Leg Irons | Wide rings of metal that were attached to each other and fastened around prisoner’s ankles. |
| 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. |
| Lookout | Someone posted to keep watch on the horizon for other ships or signs of land. |
| Loot | See ‘Booty’ |
| M | |
| Maroon | A common punishment for violation of a pirate ship’s articles, or offending her crew. The victim was left on a deserted coast (or, island) with few supplies. That way, no one could say that the unlucky pirate had actually been killed by his former brethren. |
| Marooned | Left alone, usually on a deserted island. |
| Mast | The upright pole on a ship that the sails and ropes are attached to. |
| Matey | A piratical way to address someone in a cheerful, if not necessarily friendly, fashion. |
| Me | A piratical way to say “my.” |
| Me beauty | How you would address a pretty lady or something important to you. |
| Me hearties | Typical way for a pirate leader to address his crew. |
| Merchant Ship | A ship carrying cargo to be sold. |
| Mutiny | When a ship’s crew refuse to follow the captain’s orders. |
| N | |
| New World | America |
| No quarter! | Surrender will not be accepted. |
| P | |
| Peg leg | An artificial leg, usually wooden. |
| 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. |
| Plunder | To steal. |
| Poop cabin | A room built on the top deck of a ship, often the Captain’s. |
| 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. |
| Port | The left side when facing the ship’s pointy end, also a strong alcoholic drink, and the area of land next to where ships are left when the pirates go ashore. |
| Poxy, poxed | Diseased. Used as an insult. |
| Privateer | English, French or Dutch sailors allowed by their Government to attack enemy ships. |
| Prow | The pointy end of a ship. |
| Q | |
| Quartermaster | The sailor second-in-charge to the Captain who is responsible for all rations and provisions |
| R | |
| Rigging | The ropes, mast and sails on a ship. |
| Rope’s end | Another term for flogging. “Ye’ll meet the rope’s end for that, me bucko!” |
| Rum (adjective) | Strange or odd. A “rum fellow” is a peculiar person, the sort who won’t say “Arrrr!” on Talk Like A Pirate Day. |
| Rum (noun) | Traditional pirate drink. |
| S | |
| 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. |
| Scurvy | (1) A deficiency disease caused by lack of vitamin C, often afflicting sailors; |
| Scurvy | (2) A derogatory adjective for an epithet, as in “Ye scurvy dogs!” |
| Scuttle | To make a hole in a ship’s hull or to sink the ship. |
| Sea dog | An experienced seaman. |
| Shanty | Another spelling for “chantey” – a sea song. |
| Shark bait | (1) Your foes, who are about to feed the fish (q.v.). |
| Shark bait | (2) A worthless or lazy sailor; a lubber who is no use aboard ship. |
| Shipshape | To be neat and tidy. |
| Shiver me timbers! | An expression of surprise or strong emotion. |
| Sink me! | An expression of surprise. |
| Smartly | Quickly. “Smartly there, men!” = “Hurry up!” |
| Splice the mainbrace | To have a drink. Or, perhaps, several drinks. |
| Spyglass | A telescope. |
| Starboard | The right side of the ship when you are facing toward her prow. |
| Sutler | A merchant in port, selling what a ship needed for supplies and repairs. |
| Swab (noun) | A disrespectful term for a seaman. “Man that gun, ye cowardly swabs!” |
| Swab (verb) | To clean something. “Swabbing the decks” would be a mild penalty for a disobedient pirate. |
| Swag | Loot. |
| T | |
| Titivate | To clean up and make neat. |
| Three sheets to the wind | To have drunk too much alcohol. |
| W | |
| Walk the plank | To be forced to walk along and off the end of a plank that has been placed over the side of a ship. |
| Weevil. | A kind of beetle that can eat your food before you do. |
| Weigh anchor | To lift the anchor and be ready to sail. |
| 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! |
| Y | |
| Ye | You; your |
| Yer | Used instead of ‘your’. |
| Yo-ho-ho | A very piratical thing to say, whether it actually means anything or not. |
They missed a word. Get your sorry ARSE out of the hammok and do something!
Ye forgot Bucko Mate. The term applied to the mate of a sailing trading ship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who drove his crew by the power of his fists.
Aloha Capt. Buzz