| Pirate Speak of the 1700s |
| a few words, terms, and phrases used aboard sailing ships during the 18th century |
TACK : A sailing manoeuvre employed to bring a vessel to a different bearing.
TAR : A sailor, so referred because much of the clothing and fabrics aboard ship are impregnated with tar to keep it
weather resistant.
TEREDOS : A soft shelled mollusk which appears as a worm, devouring wood from the planking of ships. These
warm water worms were the scourge of ships in the Caribbean, causing leaks throughout the hull.
THWARTS : The seats in a small boat, perpendicular to the keel, where the rowers or passengers sit.
TOE THE LINE : To place one's toes along a seam in the deck when standing inspection to keep in line with the rest
of the crew..
TON : During the 16th century, French wine was carried in a large cask known as a tonneaux which weighed 2240
pounds. The tonnage of a ship was based on the amount of tonneaux they could carry (a meausre of capacity, not
size).
TOP DRAWER : All of the most important documents aboard ship were kept in the top drawer of the captain's desk
or chest, thus anything said to be 'top drawer' was considered important.
TOPGALLANT : The very top sail on a mast.
TORTUGA : An island northwest of Hispaniola known to be a common home of pirates and buccaneers.
TRADE WIND : Areas of the world have certain regular winds which ships would rely on to give them thrust.
TRANSPORTATION : During the 18th century, a common form or punishment for lesser crimes was 'transport' to
the British colonies so the convicted person could be used as slave labour..
UNDER BARE POLES : When a ship sits with no sails set.
UNDER WAY : When the anchor was raised, or weighed, the ship could then move, or get under way (under weigh).
WAKE : The turbulent water left behind a vessel as it moves through the water.
WALK THE PLANK : To lay a plank out over the edge of a ship at sea and force a person to walk off the end.
There is no evidence of this to be a common practice.
WASHED UP : Anything that drifts in the ocean for a long time will eventually wash up onto a shore, and generally
in poor condition, or past its use.
WATCH : The ship needed sailors to stand 'watch', or keep an eye out for weather, enemy ships, etc. 24 hours a
day, thus the time was broken into watches, and a sailor assigned the duty of being the watch during each period.
WHIPPING : Whipping is small strands of cordage wrapped tightly around large cables and lines to keep them from
fraying. A standard punishment was to use those smaller strands to beat a person for lesser crimes, thus the person
was said to have been whipped.
WHIPSTAFF : Prior to 1700, the standard mean of controlling a ships rudder was a long bean used as a lever, as
opposed to a ships wheel which came later. This wooden beam was called a whipstaff. The term whipstaff was
also used as slang for penis.
WHOLE NINE YARDS : The standard compliment of sails on a fully rigged, three masted ship was nine sails.
These sails were known as yards. When all the sails were employed the ships was said to be using the whole nine
yards.
WHYDAH : A slave trading ship built in 1715 and captured by Black Sam Bellamy in 1717 to be used as a pirate
ship. Loaded down with treasure, the Whydah sank off Cape Cod that year in a terrible storm, taking all hands with
her. Since 1985, an expedition to salvage everything possible from the wreck site has been carried on by renowned
underwater explorer Barry Clifford, and items from the wreck can be viewed in a travelling exhibition. Expedition
Whydah
WIND DOG : An incomplete rainbow, foretelling the coming of bad weather.
WOOLDING : A method of torture, generally used to extract information, during which a cord was tied about a
person's head and tightened until their eyes popped out.
YAW : The motion of a ship moving from port to starboard and back; the lateral movement of a ship
YELLOW JACK : A yellow flag raised on a ship to warn others of shipboard disease. Also, a tropical fever which
caused jaundice (yellowing of the skin) and blackened vomit.
ZEE-ROVERS : Dutch pirates.
TAR : A sailor, so referred because much of the clothing and fabrics aboard ship are impregnated with tar to keep it
weather resistant.
TEREDOS : A soft shelled mollusk which appears as a worm, devouring wood from the planking of ships. These
warm water worms were the scourge of ships in the Caribbean, causing leaks throughout the hull.
THWARTS : The seats in a small boat, perpendicular to the keel, where the rowers or passengers sit.
TOE THE LINE : To place one's toes along a seam in the deck when standing inspection to keep in line with the rest
of the crew..
TON : During the 16th century, French wine was carried in a large cask known as a tonneaux which weighed 2240
pounds. The tonnage of a ship was based on the amount of tonneaux they could carry (a meausre of capacity, not
size).
TOP DRAWER : All of the most important documents aboard ship were kept in the top drawer of the captain's desk
or chest, thus anything said to be 'top drawer' was considered important.
TOPGALLANT : The very top sail on a mast.
TORTUGA : An island northwest of Hispaniola known to be a common home of pirates and buccaneers.
TRADE WIND : Areas of the world have certain regular winds which ships would rely on to give them thrust.
TRANSPORTATION : During the 18th century, a common form or punishment for lesser crimes was 'transport' to
the British colonies so the convicted person could be used as slave labour..
UNDER BARE POLES : When a ship sits with no sails set.
UNDER WAY : When the anchor was raised, or weighed, the ship could then move, or get under way (under weigh).
WAKE : The turbulent water left behind a vessel as it moves through the water.
WALK THE PLANK : To lay a plank out over the edge of a ship at sea and force a person to walk off the end.
There is no evidence of this to be a common practice.
WASHED UP : Anything that drifts in the ocean for a long time will eventually wash up onto a shore, and generally
in poor condition, or past its use.
WATCH : The ship needed sailors to stand 'watch', or keep an eye out for weather, enemy ships, etc. 24 hours a
day, thus the time was broken into watches, and a sailor assigned the duty of being the watch during each period.
WHIPPING : Whipping is small strands of cordage wrapped tightly around large cables and lines to keep them from
fraying. A standard punishment was to use those smaller strands to beat a person for lesser crimes, thus the person
was said to have been whipped.
WHIPSTAFF : Prior to 1700, the standard mean of controlling a ships rudder was a long bean used as a lever, as
opposed to a ships wheel which came later. This wooden beam was called a whipstaff. The term whipstaff was
also used as slang for penis.
WHOLE NINE YARDS : The standard compliment of sails on a fully rigged, three masted ship was nine sails.
These sails were known as yards. When all the sails were employed the ships was said to be using the whole nine
yards.
WHYDAH : A slave trading ship built in 1715 and captured by Black Sam Bellamy in 1717 to be used as a pirate
ship. Loaded down with treasure, the Whydah sank off Cape Cod that year in a terrible storm, taking all hands with
her. Since 1985, an expedition to salvage everything possible from the wreck site has been carried on by renowned
underwater explorer Barry Clifford, and items from the wreck can be viewed in a travelling exhibition. Expedition
Whydah
WIND DOG : An incomplete rainbow, foretelling the coming of bad weather.
WOOLDING : A method of torture, generally used to extract information, during which a cord was tied about a
person's head and tightened until their eyes popped out.
YAW : The motion of a ship moving from port to starboard and back; the lateral movement of a ship
YELLOW JACK : A yellow flag raised on a ship to warn others of shipboard disease. Also, a tropical fever which
caused jaundice (yellowing of the skin) and blackened vomit.
ZEE-ROVERS : Dutch pirates.
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