ALBANY, Ore. — Avast! That's pirate talk for stop and pay attention.
The quirky, international holiday known as "Talk Like A Pirate Day" was started in Albany during a game of racquetball between two friends.
"We started taunting each other with pirate phrases like 'Arrrr that be a fine cannon aid' and 'ya slapped that one off me missing mast matey.' We had so much fun doing this game with pirate words that we decided there ought to be one day in every year when every man, woman and child is encouraged to talk like a pirate," said Mark Summers, otherwise known as "Cap'n Slappy."
He and his friend John Baur, "Ol' Chumbucket," played the game on June 6, but knew since it was D-Day, that day was off limits.
"So we settled on September 19. Which was my ex-wife's birthday. We weren't being mean, the date was just stuck in my head," said Summers.
It stuck. For the first seven years, the holiday was observed by close friends.
"It was really simple, it was like about four or five friends all knew about it and we would call each other at work on Talk Like A Pirate Day and just go 'Arghhh!' and hang up and that was the extent of Talk Like A Pirate Day back then."
Seven years later, they pitched the idea to a columnist at the Miami Herald. After his column was printed, the holiday took off. Pretty soon Mark and John were getting phone calls from all over.
"We were getting interviews with media outlets from Australia, to the BBC, New Zealand, Ireland, Denmark, South America. We were hearing from everywhere from people who were just excited to be playing pirate," Summers said.
Never expecting it to become what it is today, Summers says he's happy to be a part of a somewhat cult holiday.
"We gave the pirate community a Christmas. This is their holiday. It's been kind of fun to be the Santa to a whole new celebration."
Learn how to talk like a pirate from Cap'n Slappy himself: