Thirteen Pirate Slang Words/Phrases
Since my current WIP is a pirate story, I thought I would share 13 slang words or phrases that I've picked up doing the research:Dance the Hempen Jig - a good old hanging.Avast Ye - stop and pay attention.All Hands Hoary - a call to action, like all hands on deck.Cackle Fruit - chicken eggs.Freebooter - from the Dutch words 'free' & 'plunder', this is another term for pirate.Jack Tar - sailor's coats or tarpaulins were infused with tar to shed water and, in the case of pirates, help deflect sword blows so this is a generic name (like John Doe or Joe Blow) used in reference to a sailor.Shiver Me Timbers - a familiar classic, it's an expression of shock or disbelief.Bumboo - a drink found in the West Indies, it was made of watered down rum flavored with nutmeg and sugar.Powder Monkey - name for a gunner's assistant.Holystone - the ship decks were scrubbed with bars of sandstone. The soft areas of the stone would wear away, leaving holes. Also, the act of kneeling to scrub looked much like praying.Go On Account - a tongue-in-cheek phrase pirates used that compared the act of becoming a pirate to going into business.Swing the Lead - a lead weight on a line was used to measure water depth when a ship was near shore. This being a rather easy job, the phrase later evolved into a term for slacking off.Black Jack - a large leather drinking vessel made stiffer with tar.
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