Talk Like a Pirate Day

September 10, 2004 6:57 AM

International Talk Like A Pirate Day is coming up again soon on September 19th and my colleagues at work have been suffering from those Autumn Blues. I have been tasked with creating (on a reasonable budget) a day to cheer those landlubbers up. More Inside Davey Jones Locker...

I need ideas for fun and games, snacks and treats and cheapo costume ideas. It's a fairly busy call centre environment and I will more than likely be forced to run round with a cutlass and eyepatch shouting "Yarrrrr!" to encourage enjoyment. Any assistance welcome.

posted by longbaugh to Society & Culture (9 answers total)

You could get a couple of memberships (or free trials) for Puzzle Pirates, and then set up a couple of laptops with projectors in a meeting room and let them play head to head swordfighting and drinking challenges against each other.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:24 AM on September 10, 2004

Don't forget about Pirate's Booty!
posted by uncleozzy at 7:38 AM on September 10, 2004

For appropeiate snacks & treats, I'd recommend hardtack, anything lime-flavored, some rum raisin ice cream, chocolate coins, barbeque
and fishsticks. With the leftover rum, make some bumboo.
Get some bandannas, striped shirts, and pres-on tattoos for your crew while you're at it. Be sure to crank up some befitting tunes with the Captain Blood soundtrack.

One other item: be sure to pass someone a note with a black spot on it.
posted by Smart Dalek at 7:44 AM on September 10, 2004

Sorry - you said call center, didn't you? Pass along a trouble ticket
with a black spot on it.
posted by Smart Dalek at 7:46 AM on September 10, 2004

Response by poster: I should be more specific - we are in the UK and therefore may not have access to certain pirate-snack related goodness. I already have inflatable parrots, plastic swords, eyepatchs and bandannas listed - we may also get the chance to have some piratey types films running with the exception of Cutthroat Island (*shivers own timbers*).
posted by longbaugh at 7:47 AM on September 10, 2004

Substitute saltwater taffy and cocconut milk for rum items. Save the real treasure for when you're offshore. Cook some potatoes. Pirates love potatoes. Bears sometimes enjoy huckleberry pie, but they can be pirates as well. Be sure to bookmark the Gilbert & Sullivan Archive's "Web Opera" notes for Pirates of Penzance.
posted by Smart Dalek at 8:34 AM on September 10, 2004

You could find yourself a pirated copy of Dodgeball, which features someone who thinks (and talks like)they are a pirate.
posted by biffa at 8:36 AM on September 10, 2004

I should probably offer to ship "Pirate Cookies" to everyone. They're a Mr. Christie product: whole-wheatish cookies with peanut butter "stuff" between them, akin to an Oreo.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:16 AM on September 10, 2004

Last year I set up my MOO so everyone's speech was piratized ("is" -> "be", appending ", matey!" at random to the end of certain messages, etc.)
posted by abcde at 12:06 PM on September 10, 2004