Designing Your Character & Other Handy Things 2

Pirate Terminology

Pirate Phrases

ahoy
An interjection used to hail a ship or a person, or to attract attention.

Arr!
An exclamation.

Avast!
A command meaning stop or desist, from the Italian "basta", meaning stop.

aye (or ay)
Yes; an affirmation.

becalmed
The state of a sailing vessel which cannot move due to a lack of wind.

belay
To secure or     make fast (a rope, for example) by winding on a cleat or pin.To stop, most     often used as a command.bilged on heranchor
A ship holed or pierced by its own anchor.

Blimey!
An exclamation of surprise, short for "God blind me!", which is very common to this day in Britain and sometimes shortened less to"Gor blimey" or "Cor blimey."

blow the man down
To kill someone.

boom about
When a ship turns in the wind the boom can swing violently enough to injure or kill a person on board. "Boom about" may be shouted to warn others the boom is about to move.

bring a spring upon her cable
To come around in a different direction, oftentimes as a surprise maneuver.

careen
To take a ship into shallower waters or out of the water altogether and remove barnacles and pests such as mollusks, shells and plant growth from the bottom. Often a pirate needs to careen his ship to restore it to proper speed. Careening can be dangerous to pirates as it leaves the ship inoperable while the work is being done.

chase
A ship being pursued, or the act of pursuing a ship.

code of conduct
A set of rules which govern pirates behavior on a vessel.

come about
To bring the ship full way around in the wind. Used in general while sailing into the wind, but also used to indicate a swing back into the enemy in combat.

crack Jenny's teacup
To spend the night in a house of ill repute.

crimp
To procure (sailors or soldiers) by trickery or coercion, or one who crimps.

dance the hempenjig
To hang.

Davy Jones' Locker
A fictional place at the bottom of the ocean. In short, a term meaning death. Davy Jones was said to sink every ship he ever over took, and thus, the watery grave that awaited all who were sunk by him was given his name. To die at sea is to go to Davy Jones' Locker.

dead men tell no tales
Standard pirate excuse for leaving no survivors.

deadlights
Strong     shutters or plates fastened over a ship's porthole or cabin window in     stormy weather.Thick windows     set in a ship's side or deck. Eyes. fire in the hole
A warning issued before a cannon is fired.

furl
To roll up and secure, especially a ship's sail.

give no quarter
The refusal to spare lives of an opponent. Pirates raise a red flag to threaten no quarter will be given.

handsomely
Quickly or carefully; in a shipshape style.

haul wind
To direct a ship into the wind.

heave down
To turn a vessel on its side for cleaning.

heave
An interjection meaning to come to a halt.

ho
Used to express surprise or joy, to attract attention to something sighted, or to urge onward.

letter of marque
A document given to a sailor (privateer) giving him amnesty from piracy laws as long as the ships plunders are of an enemy nation. A large portion of the pirates begin as privateers with this symbol of legitimacy. The earnings of a privateer are significantly better than any of a soldier at sea. Letters of marque aren't always honored, however, even by the government that issues them. Captain Kidd had letters of marque and his own country hanged him anyway.