Happy ITLAPD t' you!

T' Dred Pirate Scott

Happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day t' you!

ITLAPD be a parodic holiday created in 1995 by John Baur (Ol' Chumbucket) and Mark Summers (Cap'n Slappy), o' Albany, Ore., who proclaimed Sept. 19 each year as t' day when everyone in t' world should talk like a pirate. For example, an observer o' this holiday would greet buckos not with "Hello!" but with "Ahoy, matey!" T' holiday, and its observance, sprin's from a romanticized view o' t' Golden Age o' Piracy.

At first an inside joke between two buckos, t' holiday gained exposure when Baur and Summers sent a letter about their invented holiday t' t' American syndicated humor columnist Dave Barry in 2002. Barry (himself a writer o' pirate books) liked t' idea and promoted t' day. Growin' media coverage o' t' holiday after Barry's column has ensured that this event be now celebrated internationally, and Baur and Summers now sell books and T-shirts on their website related t' t' theme.

As t' association o' pirates with peg legs, parrots, and treasure maps was popularized in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island (1883), t' book has had a significant influence on parody pirate culture.

On t' Net: http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html