Talk Like a Pirate Day

International Talk Like a Pirate Day, celebrated annually on September 19th, is a lighthearted and widely embraced novelty holiday encouraging participants to speak, dress, and act like stereotypical pirates for the day, complete with exaggerated nautical slang like "arrr" and "shiver me timbers." The holiday was invented in 1995 by two friends, John Baur and Mark Summers, from Albany, Oregon, who created it purely as an inside joke during a racquetball game, adopting the pirate personas "Ol' Chumbucket" and "Cap'n Slappy." The holiday might have remained a small private joke had the pair not sent a letter about their creation to popular humor columnist Dave Barry in 2002, who wrote about it in his nationally syndicated column, catapulting the obscure celebration into mainstream popular culture almost overnight. September 19th was chosen simply because it was the birthday of Summers's ex-wife, a date he found easy to remember. The holiday draws heavily on popular culture's often historically inaccurate but endearing portrayal of pirates, particularly influenced by classic pirate films and literature like "Treasure Island," rather than historically accurate depictions of piracy. Talk Like a Pirate Day is celebrated with pirate-themed parties, costume contests, restaurant promotions for customers who order in pirate speak, and widespread social media participation, remaining one of the most enduringly popular internet-driven novelty holidays.