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 |
|
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