I sent a note to my workmates about International Talk Like a Pirate Day and got a note back reminding me that not all "shiver-me-timbers" and company are in fact the pirate lingo of a particular time and culture of pirates.
Very true: the Widow Ching probably didn't say "Arrrr!"; nor did the Dalmatia pirates of the 10th century cry "Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum"; (and nor did the institutionalised pirates of the Venetian or Genoese city-states mutter "Pieces of Eight").
We must end this stereotyping of (international) pirates now!
