Thursday, September 01, 2005
Pirate Grammar Part II
We had a pretty lively discussion yesterday regarding the proper spelling of the classic pirate greeting/farewell, and it appears that the winner is:
Arrrr!
Arrr was used extensively at last weekend's 50th birthday party. In fact, I'm pretty sure when I walked through the door that at least a few people were replacing the words of "Happy Birthday" with Arrs.
Ar, ar, ar, ar, ar, ARRR!
Of, course, a nod to our Texas pholk and their wide usage of Yar. It's a cultural thing. You woudn't understand unless you were from there. And if I'm not mistaken, Canadians prefer the more elegant and continental Aaaargh, eh?
Kudos to our good phriend Coconut Bob for pointing out the proper usage for the hearing-impaired.
Wayners brings up a good point, though. Emphasis is critical. Take for instance the arrs used to replace words to the birthday song. They were gentle, with the emphasis on the first "a" and the remainder tapering down to the last "r." If you were pissed, you'd be more likely to come from the diaphragm and use uniform emphasis on all letters, as in "ARRRRRRR!"
Puzzled? aaAR would be your usage - climbing in pitch from the beginning. You can hit AAaaARR? with emphasis on each end for more extreme puzzlement, as in what the fuck?
I'm sure we'll get a lot of opportunities to work on this all weekend. I'll be heading out to Parrot Grande early Friday, so unless something strikes me later today, this is probably my last post till Sunday or Monday.
Oh, and it should be noted that the whole concept The Blue Moose seems to have captivated the Parrotheads. I'm in for a five spot to help replace his threads, just for the opportunity to see it. Who's with me?
aaaAARR?
P.S. (Re: Tuesday's Clint Holmes post comment)C'mon, Coconut Bob, we all know you're dying to add Mr. Mister's Broken Wings to your setlist. I just can't wait!
