Ahoy, matey, it’s Talk Like A Pirate Day with free fish and chicken

Ahoy, matey! It’s International Talk Like a Pirate Day and time to celebrate – with free Long Johns Silver’s, pirate-speaking fun, or a blast from the past in newspaper column satire.

The holiday was first established in 1995 by John Baur and Mark Summers. But it gained popularity in 2002, when Dave Barry, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist at the Miami Herald, promoted the holiday in a column published on Sept. 8, 2002.

Barry’s column that thrust the holiday into international celebration describes the idea as “revolutionary,” adding that “there are so many practical benefits that I can't even begin to list them all.”

Barry called on celebrities to join him, and even said President George Bush already talks like a pirate, pointing to a fake news conference transcript to prove his point.

The celebration, he says “will infuse your everyday conversations with romance and danger.”

He closes the column with the hope that, “I truly think this idea could bring us, as a nation, closer together.

“But not TOO much closer. Some of us will have swords.”

Dress like a pirate

Each year, Long John Silver’s gives away a free piece of fish or chicken to anyone who talks like a pirate on Sept. 19.

And anyone who dresses like a pirate can receive a free two-piece fish or chicken basket.

The restaurant offers linguistic tips, like “Ahoy, matey” for hello, or “avast” for watch out and “step smartly, me lad” for get out of my way. And possibly most impressive is, “step smartly before I hang ye from the yard arm,” which means seriously, get out of my way.

And there’s always the plain ole’ “arrrr.”

This story was originally published September 19, 2016 at 7:08 AM with the headline "Ahoy, matey, it’s Talk Like A Pirate Day with free fish and chicken."