Apparently, today (September 19) was Talk Like a Pirate Day. Now, if I had known this, I would have used this handy English to Pirate tranlastor to transcribe all my memos, e-mails, and reports. And what fun that would have been!

Of course, the best way to talk like a pirate is memorize some key words and phrases such as:

Ahoy! - "Hello!"

Avast! - Stop and give attention. It can be used in a sense of surprise, "Whoa! Get a load of that!" which today makes it more of a "Check it out" or "No way!" or "Get off!"

Aye! - "Why yes, I agree most heartily with everything you just said or did."

Aye aye! - "I'll get right on that sir, as soon as my break is over."

Arrr! - This one is often confused with arrrgh, which is of course the sound you make when you sit on a belaying pin. "Arrr!" can mean, variously, "yes," "I agree," "I'm happy," "I'm enjoying this beer," "My team is going to win it all," "I saw that television show, it sucked!" and "That was a clever remark you or I just made." And those are just a few of the myriad possibilities of Arrr!

But if you can't memorize these, you can spend some time at the official web site working on your pick up lines, pirate advice, and booty gathering. And, of course, getting ready for next September 19!