Double-click on any word and see its definition from Cambridge Dictionaries Online.
The earliest documented incidence of piracy are the exploits of the Sea Peoples who threatened the Aegean in the 13th century BC. In Classical Antiquity, the Tyrrhenians and Thracians were known as pirates. The island of Lemnos long resisted Greek influence and remained a haven for Thracian pirates. The Latin term pirata, from which the English "pirate" is derived, derives ultimately from Greek peira (πείρα) "attempt, experience", implicitly "to find luck on the sea". The word is also cognate to peril.
Source: Wikipedia
John Rackham (died 17 November 1720), also known as Calico Jack Rackham or Calico Jack, was an English pirate captain during the early 18th century. His nickname was derived from the colourful calico clothes he wore. John Rackham is remembered for employing two of the most notorious female pirates of his time – Anne Bonny and Mary Read – in his crew, and for his famous flag of a skull with two crossed swords under it. John Rackham and most of his crew were executed in Jamaica on 17 November 1720.
Source: Wikipedia
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003): directed by Gore Verbinski and starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. Tagline: Prepare to be blown out of the water. Plot outline: Blacksmith Will Turner teams up with eccentric pirate "Captain" Jack Sparrow to save his love, the governor's daughter, from Jack's former pirate allies, who are now undead.
Source: IMDb
The International Maritime Bureau reports worldwide pirate attacks fell for the third year in a row in 2006. Attacks on ships at sea in 2006 fell to 239 vessels, down from 276 in 2005. That same trend echoed in the Strait of Malacca where attacks dropped from 79 in 2005 to 50 in 2006. Nonetheless, in 2004, the region accounted for 40% of piracy worldwide.
Source: Wikipedia
The Pirate loot problem is a Lateral thinking mathematical puzzle that involves logic and strategic thinking to solve. The problem can be varied to include any number of pirates, and any number of gold pieces. Imagine you are the oldest in a band of five pirates, where no two pirates in the group are of the same age. It is your responsibility as the oldest pirate to decide how to divide the group's booty, which comprises one hundred pieces of gold. Once you announce how you will allocate the gold, all the pirates in the group (including you) vote either "yes" or "no" on your decision. If at least half of the votes are "yes", the pirates divide the loot as you directed, after which everyone carries on about his business. But, if more than half of the votes are "no", you are then killed, and the task of deciding the allocation of gold lies with the next oldest pirate in the group. Knowing that all the other pirates are just as smart, and just as logical as you, and furthermore, knowing that they all want the largest amount of gold they can get for themselves, how do you divide the gold so that you get the maximum amount of gold pieces possible, and guarantee that you will receive enough "yes" votes to stay alive?
Source: Wikipedia
Pirate Jenny by Marianne Faithfull
See lyrics
Space pirates are science fiction or fantasy character archetypes who operate as pirates in outer space as opposed to on the sea: capturing and plundering ships for cargo, money, and the ships themselves. Space pirates tend to share many traits with the classical pirate archetype, characterized as ruthless criminals; as selfish, greedy, rude, evil, and generally contemptible persons. Works of fiction vary widely in how they characterize and explore the archetype, just as with classical and modern depictions of pirates. Pirates may be depicted as protagonists, antagonists, neutral parties, redshirts, anti-heroes and so forth. Space pirates include Han Solo from Star Wars, Humma Kavula, in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Elasi in Star Trek and Nick Succorso and Angus Thermopyle from the Gap Cycle series of novels.
Source: Wikipedia
Pirate’s Pie
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The following are all pirate-related (an amusing use of a word or phrase which has several meanings or which sounds like another word):
Pirates had comfortable feet because of their booty.
A pirate with one hand often picked up the phone. He wanted to get off the hook.
He couldn't sell his pirate ship because it was unassailable.
A small pirate ship is called a thug-boat.
Old pirates retire and grow corn for a buck an ear.
A pirate wrote his wooden leg into his will as a leg-acy.
Source: http://punoftheday.com/
A General History of the Pyrates by Daniel Defoe, Manuel Schonhorn (Editor). Dover Publications. From the publisher: "Defoe recounts the daring and bloody deeds of such outlaws as Edward Teach (alias Blackbeard), Captain Kidd, Mary Read, Anne Bonny, many others. New Introduction provides insights into the origins and significance of this important historical work."
Sourcef: http://classiclit.about.com
International Talk Like a Pirate Day (ITLAPD) is a parodic holiday invented in 1995 by John Baur ("Ol' Chum Bucket") and Mark Summers ("Cap'n Slappy"), of the United States, who proclaimed September 19 each year as the day when everyone in the world should talk like a pirate. For example, an observer of this holiday would greet friends not with "Hello", but with "Ahoy, me hearty!"
Source: Wikipedia
PIRACY, n. Commerce without its folly-swaddles, just as God made it. (Ambrose Bierce)
A monarch, when good, is entitled to the consideration which we accord to a pirate who keeps Sunday School between crimes; when bad, he is entitled to none at all. (Mark Twain)
In politics and in trade, bruisers and pirates are of better promise than talkers and clerks. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
The average man will bristle if you say his father was dishonest, but he will brag a little if he discovers that his great-grandfather was a pirate. (Bern Williams)
Source: Creative Quotations
Piracy attacks are declining worldwide. Yet hotspots remain. They include Indonesia, still the world’s most dangerous piracy region, Nigeria, Somalia, and the ports of Chittagong in Bangladesh and Santos in Brazil, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) 2006 Annual Report.
Source: Wikipedia
He who plunders with a little boat is a pirate; he who plunders with a fleet is a conqueror. (Greek)
Where there is sea there will always be pirates. (Malawian)
Source: Creative Proverbs
Pirates of the Spanish Main is a tabletop game manufactured by WizKids, Inc., with aspects of both miniatures and collectible card genres. Pirates of the Spanish Main is, according to WizKids, the world's first "constructible strategy game," referring to the mechanics of creating game pieces from components that punch out of styrene cards. The game was created by Jordan Weisman and designed by Mike Mulvihill, Ethan Pasternack, James Ernest, and Mike Selinker. Pirates of the Spanish Main refers specifically to the first release in the series, and generically to the game as a whole (or the game's "universe") including all of the expansions.
Source: Wikipedia
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