pirate holding sword next to flag

Maybe you are reading a great pirate book, like Robert Louis Stevenson 's classic Treasure Island, or you’re playing Sea of Thieves and are looking for some meanings. Perhaps you're in a play or dressing up like a pirate for Halloween or a costume party, and you want to learn some pirate terms and phrases so you can really get into character. Do you want to pick up some lingo for Talk Like A Pirate Day? Whatever the reason, learning some pirate terms can be useful and fun. Read on, me hearties !

Glossary of Pirate Terms and Phrases

If you think that there are only a few pirate terms and phrases to learn, you are absolutely mistaken! We've provided a vocabulary list of 75 fascinating pirate sayings (although many more pirate idioms abound), and you will see that there is quite a bit more to talking like a pirate than running around saying "Aarrr!"

We have included the pirate phrases, as well as the modern English translation of that phrase.

Pirate Greetings and Exclamations

Learn to say “hello” the pirate way!

ahoy - hello Avast ye! - Stop you!; pay attention! blimey - something said when one is in a state of surprise heave ho - instruction to put some strength into whatever one is doing Savvy? - a question that means, “Do you understand?” Shiver me timbers! - an expression used to show shock or disbelief Sink me! - an exclamation of great surprise yo ho ho - possibly from yo-heave-ho, a chant when doing strenuous work, but also can be used to call attention to the speaker

Pirate Insults, Threats, and Dark Omens

Need to threaten or insult someone in pirate lingo?

bilge-sucking - an insult indicating someone drank dirty bilge water from the bottom of the ship black spot - a death threat (found in Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson) blow the man down - it possibly means getting knocked to the ground or killed (found in a 19th-century sea shanty) cleave him to the brisket - cut a man nearly in half with a sword dance with Jack Ketch - to hang (Jack Ketch was slang for the hangman) dead men tell no tales - the reason given for leaving no survivors give no quarter - show no mercy; pirates raised a red flag to threaten no quarter landlubber - a person who is uncomfortable, or not incredibly skilled, at sea lily-livered - an insult for someone who displays cowardice keelhaul - a punishment in which someone was dragged back and forth under the ship mutiny - a situation in which the crew chooses a new captain, sometimes forcibly removing the old one scallywag - an inexperienced pirate, considered an insult scurvy dog - an insulting name shark bait - If you're made to walk the plank, chances are you'll be shark bait. Also, a dying sailor whose body will soon be thrown into the sea son of a biscuit eater - an insult walk the plank - A punishment, probably more myth than truth, which entails making someone walk off the side of the ship along a plank. The person's hands were often tied so he couldn't swim and drowned (and then fed the fish).

Pirate Slang

Understand what pirates have to say with popular pirate slang.

briney deep - the ocean cackle fruit - hen's eggs clap of thunder - a strong alcoholic drink dance the hempen jig - to be hanged Davy Jones' locker - mythological place at the bottom of the sea where drowned sailors were said to go feed the fish - if you lose a sea fight, your body will feed the fish fire in the hole - a canon that is loaded and ready to fire hang the jib - to frown or scowl hearties - friends and comrades hempen halter - the noose used to hang people hornswaggle - to cheat, swindle no prey, no pay - a pirate law meaning the crew didn't get paid but took a share of any loot peg leg - a wooden leg run a rig - play a trick sea legs - when a pirate can walk comfortably on a moving ship scuttle - to sink a ship scuttlebutt - a cask of drinking water; slang for gossip swashbuckler - a daredevil three sheets to the wind - someone who is quite drunk

Phrases Related to Pirate Ships and Crew

Next time you’re aboard a ship, you’ll be able to speak like a pirate.

abaft, or aft - toward the back of the boat all hands hoay - everyone on the deck batten down the hatches - a signal to prepare the ship for an upcoming storm bilge - the lowest decks of the ship, often filled with water. binnacle - where the compass is kept on board the ship black jack - a pirate flag; a large tankard buccaneer - name for a pirate mainly found in the Caribbean in the 17th and 18th centuries coaming - a surface that prevented water on the deck from dripping to lower levels of the ship cockswain or coxswain - the helmsman crow's nest - the place on the ship where the lookout stand is built duffle - a sailor's belongings and the bag they were carried in dungbie - rear end of the ship flibustier - name for the American pirates found around the West Indies during the Golden Age of Piracy freebooter - a pirate or looter, from the same origin as flibustier, someone who took loot or booty head - toilet on board the ship Jacob's ladder - rope ladder that was used to climb aboard ships Jolly Roger - the famous pirate flag with a skull and crossbones on it man-o-war - the name used for a pirate ship that is heavily armed and ready for battle old salt - a sailor that has a great deal of experience on the seas orlop - lowest deck in the ship where cables are stored poop deck - deck that is the highest and farthest back privateer - a sailor sponsored by the government, paid by what he could plunder from an enemy, technically a step up from a pirate rigging - the lines and ropes that held the sails seadog - an old sailor or pirate

Pirate Terms About Money and Weapons

Of course, no pirate story would be complete without the right words for weapons and treasure.