Vocabulary of Pirate language

1. Vocabulary of Pirate terms.

1. Aye: Yes.
2. Booty: Treasure.
3. Bucko: friend.
4. Case shot: A collection of small projectiles put in cases to fire from a cannon. A canister-
shot.
5. Clap of thunder: A strong, alcoholic drink.
6. Code of conduct: A set of rules which govern Pirates’ behaviour on a vessel.
7. Crow’s nest: A small platform, sometimes enclosed, near the top of a mast, where a
lookout could have a better view when watching for sails or for land.
8. Cutlass: A short, heavy sword with a curved blade used by pirates and sailors. The
sword has only one cutting edge and may or may not have a useful point.
9. deadlights: 1)eyes. 2)thick windows set in a ship’s side or deck. 3)strong shutters or
plates fastened over a ship’s porthole or cabin window in stormy weather.
10. Dead men tell no tales…: Standard pirate excuse for leaving no survivors.
11. Fetch: bring
12. Fire in the hole: A warning issued before a cannon is fired.
13. Galleon: A large three masted sailing ship with a square rig and usually two or more
decks, used to the 15
th
to the 17
th
century especially by Spain as a merchant ship or warship.
14. Go on account: A pleasant terms used by pirates to describe the act of turning pirate. The
basic idea was that a pirate was more “free lance”, and thus was, more or less, going into
business for himself.
15. Grog blossom: redness on the nose or face of persons who drink ardent spirits to excess.
16. Hatch: The opening where the ladders to the lower decks are.
17. Ho!: Used to express surprise or joy, to attract attention to something sighted, or
to urge onward as in Land ho! Or Westward ho!
18. Jack tar or tar: A sailor.
19. Lay rough: When a seaman slept on the deck instead of a hammock or bed.
20. Loaded to the gunwalls: to be drunk.
21. Loot: stolen goods, money.
22. Mast: These were upright beams which sails were suspended from.
23. Me: My.
24. Mutineers/mutiny: To rise against authority, especially the Captain of a ship.
25. Peer: colleague.
26. Peg leg: This was a nickname given by pirate to those who had replaced a let with a
wooden prosthetic. The Spanish name is Pie de Palo, the Dutch is Houtebeen. Two of the best
known Peg leg pirates were Francois le Clerc and Cornelis Jol.
27. Porthole:

2. 28. Quartermaster: The officer who represented the crew in all issues aboard ship. He was in-
charge food and supplies, division of the booty, and distributed the punishment to the guilty.
29. Reef sails: To shorten the sails by partially tying them up, either to slow the ship or to
keep a strong wind from putting too much strain on the masts.
30. Rum punch: A drink consisting of rum, lime juice and sugar. The recipe consisted of one
of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak (ice)
31. Run a rig: to play a trick.
32. Rutters: Detailed instructions listing all that is known about a place or a rout.
33. Salmagundi salad: A salad usually consisting of chopped meat, anchovies, eggs, and onions,
often arranged in rows on lettuce and served with vinegar and oil.
34. Shiver me timbers!: An expression of surprise or strong emotion.
35. Silk sling: A ribbon that held the pistol from a pirate’s neck.
36. Sink me! An expression of surprise.
37. Sloop: A single-masted fore and aft rigged sailing boat with a short standing
bowsprit or none at all and a single headsail set from the forestay. This boat was much favoured
by the pirates because of its shallow draught and maneuverability.
38. Stern lights: The ship’s windows in the stern.
39. Spyglass: A telescope.
40. Swab: 1) to clean, specifically the deck of a ship 2) A disrespectful term for a
seaman. Eg. “ Man that gun, ye cowardly swabs!”
41. Swabber: 1) unhandy seaman, fit only to clean the ship.
42. Sweet trade: The career of piracy.
43. Swing the lead: The lead was a weight at the bottom of a line that gave sailors a way to
measure depth when near land. To swing the lead was considered a simple job, and thus came
to represent one who is avoiding work or taking the easy work over the hard. In today’s terms,
one who swings the lead is a slacker.
44. Take a caulk: To take a nap.
45. Topman: sailor in charge of the topsails.
46. ‘tween deck’s ladder: the ladders that lead on the lower decks.
47. Walk the plank: Perhaps more famous than historically practised, walking the plunk is the
act of being forced off a ship by pirates as punishment or torture. The victim, usually blindfolded
or with bound hands or both, is forced to walk along a plank laid over the ship’s side and fall into
the water below. The concept first appeared in 19
th
century fiction, long after the great days of
piracy. History suggests that this might have happened once that can be vaguely documented,
but it is etched in the image of the pirates for its dastardly content.
48. wench: A young woman or peasant girl, sometimes a prostitute.
49. Ye: You
50. Ye scurvy dogs!: You scurvy dogs. A pirate phrase that was used especially for the sailors
who were suffering from the illness.
51. Yer: Your.
52. Yo-ho-ho! An exclamation associated with pirates.