Joleen Cope
Staff Reporter
There are hundreds of national holidays each month. Surely most people have not even heard of half of them, as some were started as jokes or are just seemingly unimportant. Many are just started for fun. One of these national holidays that may not have much popularity is Talk Like a Pirate Day.
Originally created by two friends playing racquetball, Talk Like a Pirate Day has become a fun holiday to take part in for many every September 19. This day was created in 1995 by two friends from Oregon. They quietly celebrated it in a group of friends as an inside joke every year for a while. Eventually, in 2002, they wrote to Dave Barry, a humor columnist, asking him to spread the word of their made-up holiday. Barry seemed to love this idea and wrote the column they had suggested. This helped the holiday gain popularity and people around the country started their own celebrations of Talk Like a Pirate Day.
Pirates continue to capture the attention and imagination of many. From popular books and movies, pirates have been around for hundreds of years. This holiday carries this on. The Talk Like a Pirate Day tradition is to walk around acting and talking like a pirate, as the name entails. Surely the ‘pirate lingo’ we use may not be accurate, but it is fun nonetheless. Some even throw parties where everyone dresses as a pirate and with a party, there must be food. A few Popular foods for this holiday include cannonballs made of cheeseballs, hot dogs made to look like an octopus, and obviously fish.
It is crazy to think that a fun holiday a few friends made as a joke made its way around the country. This just proves that what you do matters somewhere. Word can get around fast. Talk Like a Pirate Day is a good way for people to express their inner child and have fun for a minute. This could be especially good for this year as to brighten the mood for many. It may make people feel a little stupid, but that is the fun of it.
Have a little bit of fun and celebrate this year just because you can. Get a pirate hat and throw on Pirates of the Caribbean this September 19 and take part in this year’s Talk Like a Pirate Day.
Image Credit: Disney
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