2009 International Talk Like a Pirate Day at the Grey Lodge
Pirates love Belgian beer, especially Belgian Strong Ales and Triples. (It's true; look it up. OK even if it's not true, it should be). We'll have both Belgian beers from Belgium and American Belgian style beers. The featured beers will be available all day.

At 20 bells (8pm), we be havin a Talk Like a Pirate contest on our low'r deck. Wonderous prizes thar be! Brave mates be assigned a poem t' translate t' Piratespeak, they be.  Treasure goes to the maties wit' best recitations .

Featured Beers
Draft: Lost Abbey Devotion Ale, Dock Street Abbey Single
Bottles: Maredsous Dubbel, Allagash Triple, Ommegang Three Philosophers, Piraat, Victory Golden Monkey, Weyerbacher Merry Monks, Westmalle Triple

This Saturday, board our ship an' turn it on out! 

What is International Like a Pirate Day?
Two dudes decided that what the world really needed was a new national holiday, Talk Like A Pirate Day. They picked September 19th as the day.

Why do we need an International Talk Like a Pirate Day?
From talklikeapirate.com: "Talking like a pirate is fun. It's really that simple. It gives your conversation a swagger, an elán, denied to landlocked lubbers. Silliness is the holiday's best selling point."

How are we celebrating International Talk Like a Pirate Day at The Grey Lodge?
Glad ye asked. Avast, we will celebratin with a treasure chest o gold gold beers that be. Arrr! Yo ho ho and a bottle (or two) of Belgian beer, arrr! Also we have free, free, free eyepatches for any mateys that piratespeak smartly. And free booty (another name for pirate treasure, professor, get you mind out of yer bunghole) for any beauties that happen upon our poopdeck!

What bilge rat is to blame or to be praised for this travesty to happen here at The Grey Lodge?
T’was Black Goat Andy Cliver that suggested it. Scoats saw it as an opportunity to be annoying AND to drink very tasty golden beers. Arrrr!

How to Talk Like a Pirate
(like a bonny pirate, we stoles this from somewares)

Pirate lingo is rich and complicated, sort of like a good stew. But if you just want a quick fix, a surface gloss, a "pirate patina," here are the five basic words that you cannot live without. Master them, and you can face Talk Like a Pirate Day with a smile on your face and a parrot on your shoulder, if that's your thing.

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," Advanced pirate lingo; or On beyond Aarrr! Once you've mastered the basics, you're ready to start expanding your pirate vocabulary.

Beauty - The best possible pirate address for a woman. Always preceded by "me", as in, "C’mere, me beauty", or even, "me buxom beauty" - to one particularly well endowed.

Bilge rat - The bilge is the lowest level of the ship. It’s loaded with ballast and slimy, reeking water. A bilge rat, then, is a rat that lives in the worst place on the ship. On TLAP Day A lot of guy humor involves insulting your buddies to prove your friendship. It’s important that everyone understand you are smarter, more powerful and much luckier with the wenches than they are. Since bilge rat is a pretty dirty thing to call someone, by all means use it on your friends.

Bung hole - Victuals on a ship were stored in wooden casks. The stopper in the barrel is called the bung, and the hole is called the bung hole. That’s all. It sounds a lot worse, doesn’t it? On TLAP Day, When dinner is served you’ll make quite an impression when you say, "Well, me hearties, let’s see what crawled out of the bung hole."

Grog - An alcoholic drink, usually rum diluted with water. Call your beer grog if you want. On TLAP Day, Drink up, me hearties! And call whatever you’re drinking grog if you want to. If some prissy pedant purses his lips and protests the word grog can only be used if drinking rum and water, not the Singapore Sling you’re holding, keelhaul him!

Hornpipe - Both a single-reeded musical instrument sailors often had aboard ship, and a spirited dance that sailors do. On TLAP Day We are not big fans of the capering, it’s not our favorite art form, if you will, so we don’t have a lot to say on the subject, other than to observe that the common term for being filled with lust is horny, and hornpipe then has some comical possibilities. "Is that a hornpipe in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me? Or both?"

Lubber - This is the seaman’s version of land lover, mangled by typical pirate disregard for elocution. A lubber is someone who does not go to sea, who stays on the land. On TLAP Day, More likely than not, you are a lubber 364 days of the year. But not if you’re talking like a pirate! Then the word lubber becomes one of the more fierce weapons in your arsenal of piratical lingo. In a room where everyone is talking like pirates, lubber is ALWAYS an insult.

Smartly - Do something quickly.

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