The Charm of Hope: Pirate terminology

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Section Index

• Anatomy of a Pirate Ship
• Pirate Parlance and Phrases
• Pirate Code and Democracy
• Flags and Fortunes on the High Seas
• Privateers, Corsairs, and Buccaneers
• Legacy and Modern Echoes

Anatomy of a Pirate Ship

Every pirate’s lexicon began with the vessel itself. The ship had a bow (front) and stern (rear), connected by the keel, the backbone along the hull’s bottom^[5]. Above decks, sailors divided the planks into sections: the raised forecastle or fo’c’s’le at the bow, and the poop deck (often called the quarterdeck) at the stern^[6]. To steer, a helmsman turned the wheel or tiller attached to the rudder at the stern. The ship’s sides were port and starboard—left and right when facing the bow^[7]. Water that collected below called deck level ran out through scuppers, while the very bottom inside was the bilge^[8]. (No one wants bilgewater any more than bilge-sucking canal rats do.)

Above deck, the masts (fore-, main-, mizzen-) held yards and sails. The lookout perched in the crow’s nest atop the main mast. Spare rope and chain (the rigging) snaked everywhere. On the deck, pirates were armed to the teeth. Short cutlasses—heavy curved swords—were a favorite boarding weapon^[9]. Long-range threats came from flintlock pistols and swivel guns: small cannons mounted on a rotating stand. Mounted on the bulwarks, swivel guns gave pirate ships deadly arcs of fire. These breech-loading cannons (shown above) could fire grapeshot and bullets at close range, sweeping decks and rigging^[10]. Every part of the ship—bow, poop, mast, hull—and every tool aboard had a name pirates needed to know if they hoped to sail (or plunder) the seas successfully.

A pair of 18th-century swivel guns at Fort Nelson (Hampshire, England). These small cannons, mounted on gimbals, could swing broadside to protect every angle of a pirate ship^[10].

On the quarterdeck stood the captain, but even the title “Captain” was conditional. Pirates famously had codes of conduct called articles of agreement. These stipulated governance onboard. For instance, one code states emphatically, “Every man has a vote in affairs of moment”—meaning the crew elected and could replace their captain^[11]. No private despotism here: a quartermaster (akin to a democratically chosen “prime minister”) oversaw the division of loot and arbitrated disputes^[12]. (As one captain later admitted, he could not carry out any plan without the quartermaster’s assent^[12].) Even medical care was communal: codes often promised cash from the common chest for injuries. For example, a lost right arm might be valued at 600 pieces of eight (silver coins)^[13]—funding replacement limbs or at least food while the pirate healed. In short, the anatomy of the ship—from keel to crow’s nest—and its economy of loot were both tightly scripted by pirate terminology and tradition.

Pirate Parlance and Phrases

Pirates spoke a colorful argot. They broke norms with phrases like “Avast!” (pronounced ah-VAST) to order a halt. “Avast” comes from Dutch houd vast (“hold fast”) and meant “stop right there”^[14]. To hail another ship or crew, they’d bellow “Ahoy!”, literally meaning “hey, ship!”^[15]. A mate was a “bow” or “matey”, and the enemy was a “scurvy dog”—originally a medical term (scurvy is vitamin-C deficiency) now used as insult^[16]. Pirates boasted of booty—stolen treasure^[17]. They especially coveted Spanish silver pieces of eight and doubloons^[18].

• Ahoy! — A shout to attract attention, literally “hey, there!”^[15].
• Avast! — Command to stop what you’re doing^[14].
• Booty — Plundered treasure (silver pieces of eight and gold doubloons)^[18][17].
• Davy Jones’s Locker — A nautical euphemism for the sea’s bottom (the fate of drowned sailors)^[19].
• Black Spot — A literary “death sentence” from R.L. Stevenson’s Treasure Island^[20].
• Maroon — To abandon someone on a desert island^[21].

Despite the swashbuckling talk, some feared tropes are mostly fiction. For instance, the idea of forcing captives to walk the plank is largely a myth^[22]. Pirates more commonly just shot or threw prisoners overboard; the plank motif first appears in 18th-century novels^[22]. By contrast, the real punishment of marooning appears in pirate codes^[21]: a crewman could be “made governor of an island” (i.e. deserted alone, given minimal supplies) for offenses^[21]. In short, pirates had genuine jargon for shipboard life, blended with fictional flourishes that later enriched the legend.

Pirate Code and Democracy

Pirate crew members often prided themselves on a crude democracy at sea. Articles of agreement outlined a rudimentary constitution. One clause famously declares, “Every man has a vote in affairs of moment”^[11]—in practice this meant the entire crew elected their captain (and could depose him). No pay for tyrants. Indeed, one witness observed that among pirates “every man has as much say as the captain”^[23].

• Crew elected the captain and held him accountable: “Every man has a vote… ^[in] the selection of the captain”^[11].
• A democratically chosen quartermaster oversaw loot and crew welfare^[12].
• Injuries were insured: for example, loss of a right arm earned 600 pieces of eight from the common chest^[13].
• Captains (and quartermasters) received extra shares (about 1.5–2 shares), while ordinary sailors got one each^[24].

This equality was radical for its time. The quartermaster, elected by the crew, functioned almost as a judge or “prime minister” to the captain^[12], ensuring no single pirate ruled absolutely. Discipline was enforced: rules against desertion or cowardice could even call for marooning^[21]. So, despite the chaos of battle, a pirate’s life was governed by known terms of engagement: vote, share, quartermaster, and penalty were codified. (No documents went on “Iceberg, right ahead!”—everything was spelled out.)

Flags and Fortunes on the High Seas

Pirate identity was symbolized by the flag. The Jolly Roger—typically a skull-and-crossbones on black—announced doom to merchant crews. One 18th-century account describes Bartholomew “Black Bart” Roberts’s flag as a skeleton holding an hourglass and a dart piercing a bleeding heart^[25]. Roberts himself wore a red coat and was nicknamed Le Joli Rouge (“the pretty red one”), a term English crews twisted into “Jolly Roger” for his banner^[25]. (Another tale has Tamil pirate Ali Raja’s name corrupted to “Jolly Roger,” but Roberts’s flag story is the most cited^[25].)

A variant of the Jolly Roger: this 1912 sketch shows the skeleton-of-death motif. Historical pirate Bartholomew Roberts flew a similar flag (with hourglass and heart), giving rise to the nickname “Jolly Roger”^[25].

Treasure was measured in familiar currency. Pirates prized the Spanish dollar—the famous piece of eight—often literally cut into eight bits for small change^[18]. They also coveted gold doubloons. These terms appear in period sources and fiction alike; for example, Stevenson’s buccaneer Long John Silver has a parrot repeatedly cry out “Pieces of eight!” in Treasure Island^[18], cementing the image of pirate treasure in pop culture. In short, skull flags and Spanish coinage were not just flair but integral to pirate lexicon: one meant terror, the other wealth.

Privateers, Corsairs, and Buccaneers

“Pirate” is a broad term—but related words arose in different seas and eras. The French and English crown sometimes commissioned privateers—a pirate with a letter of marque. As Britannica notes, a privateer was literally “a pirate with papers”^[26]: privately owned armed ships sent to raid enemy commerce. (The most famous privateer was Sir Francis Drake, Queen Elizabeth’s buccaneer against the Spanish^[26].) The line could blur: without a letter you were an outlaw, but with one you were a patriot.

In the Mediterranean, corsairs (e.g. the North African Barbary corsairs) acted similarly. Essentially state-sanctioned pirates, corsairs raided under Ottoman or Christian flags but were notorious beyond any control^[27]. On land, people spoke of “pirates in Carthage,” but for the sea it was corsairs in Tunis. Further west, early Caribbean pirates were called buccaneers. Originally from the French boucan (a type of grill), buccaneers were hunters on Hispaniola turned guerrilla sea raiders. By the 1630s they roamed Tortuga and Port Royal, flying flags against Spanish treasure galleons^[28]. Over time buccaneer and pirate became nearly synonymous in the West Indies, though “buccaneer” hints at that French Creole origin. In modern usage all these terms swirl together, but in period parlance each had its place—and its own set of terms to learn.

Legacy and Modern Echoes

Pirate lore and terminology have endured far beyond the Age of Sail. In the late 20th century scholars re-examined piracy, sometimes casting it as a subversive egalitarian movement defying class norms^[29]. (“Someday these articles may be worth more than the treasure they share,” as one pirate mused.) To the public, pirate words and images remain vivid. From Pirates of the Caribbean movies to “Talk Like a Pirate Day,” skulls and “Arrghs!” pop up frequently. Museums display Jolly Rogers; literature classrooms dissect Treasure Island. Even in headlines, “pirates” live on—whether referring to Somali hijackers or to digital copyright scofflaws.

To speak of “mateys,” “planks,” or “black spots” today is to echo the semi-mythical Golden Age. In fact, many nautical phrases we learned from pirate stories are still used. One might pipe “splice the mainbrace” (originally an order to issue rum), or warn “there’s something at the bottom of Davy Jones’s locker.” And so the pirate lexicon—crusted with barnacles of history and embellished by fiction—is part of our language heritage. Whether we say “get your sea legs” or salute a passing ship with “ahoy,” we are channeling that old world of rigging and riggers. The pirate’s world has sunk below the waves of time, but their terminology remains afloat—a rich dictionary of high-seas adventure charted out for us.

Also, don’t forget to check out “The Charm of Hope” Behind The Screenplay page for more information on the writing inspiration and process.

Broken English stuff:

The history of real mermaids and the folklore behind them What were triremes? What exactly is “gallows humor”? The history of the “fetch” The real life of pirates The sections of a Pirate Ship