Talk like a Pirate

"To err is human, to arr is pirate".  I read that phrase quite a while ago now and it still tickles me whenever I think of it, or better still try and say it.  Go on.  Try it.  I bet you can't say it out loud without putting on a pirate accent when you say the "arr" word. 

So there I was this weekend, thinking about this phrase, and quietly laughing to myself, when it came to me in a blinding flash.  Every year, there should be one day when everyone in the company has to talk like a pirate as part of maintaining employee morale. 

Imagine the possibilities...

Scene: Boardroom, Start of Leadership Team meeting

CEO:  "Avast there, me hearties, gather round and tell me true your tales of derring do.  Mate of the Sales Watch, how be t' sales booty?

Head of Sales: "Arr, Skipper.  T'is a long tale and a good one, and one ye'll hear the depth of it from t' business heads, soon enough.  We sold 'em good and we sold 'em proper.  The booty's in t' bank."

CEO: "Well done, ye horn swagglin swabbie!"

Leadership Team: Chorus of "Arr"s.

Anyway, in the interests of authenticity of language and phrase, I quickly turned to Professor Google and instead found more truth to the phrase that "there is nothing new under the sun".  Guess what?  There already is an International Talk like a Pirate Day! 

Apparently, on 6 June 1995, John Baur and Mark Summers came up with the idea over a game of racquetball – they were not playing very well. For one reason or another, their calls of friendly encouragement to each other quickly turned into pirate slang and whoever let out the first “Arrr!” started something. One thing led to another. “That be a fine cannonade,” one said, to be followed by “Now watch as I fire a broadside straight into your yardarm!” and other such helpful phrases.

After their hour on court was over, they realized that lapsing into pirate lingo had made the game more fun and the time pass more quickly. They decided then and there that what the world really needed was a new national holiday, Talk Like A Pirate Day. From that point on for the next seven years the two celebrated Talk Like a Pirate Day pretty much on their own with a few friends. This particular day of pirate slang, however, might have remained virtually unknown if it had not been for one happy accident. One day in early 2002, John Baur chanced upon Dave Barry’s e-mail address. Dave Barry is a syndicated columnist, Pulitzer Prize winning author, and humorist.

After contacting him, John Baur and Mark Summers assumed a famous guy like Dave Barry would have more important things to do than read the e-mail of a couple of goofy guys with a hare-brained idea. It turns out, it was perfect material for his column and the idea exploded. Chat rooms all over the Web have been deluged with “Arrs” and “me hearties” and such. Radio stations were abuzz with the story. They had tapped into something big, much bigger than anyone had ever anticipated: the world was finally introduced to Talk Like A Pirate Day.

So What’s The Point?

The point is, there is no point: and that is what’s fun about Talk Like a Pirate Day specifically, and talking like a pirate in general. It gives your conversation a swagger, an elán, denied to landlocked lubbers and the like. The silliness is the holiday’s best selling point and embraces the mere image of swaggering pirateness. So when 19th September 2011 rolls around and suddenly tens of thousands of people are saying “arrr” and “Weigh anchor or I’ll keelhaul the lot of you”, join in. Who knows, you might enjoy it.

And what does this have to with HR?

Not a lot, other than it is important to try and have fun at work.  After all, you will spend the greater portion of your life at work.  What harm could it be to indulge in a little silliness now and again so long as it doesn't hurt anyone?

All the best

Jim