Barack Obama's Camp Celebrates 'National Talk Like A Pirate Day'

by UInterviewSeptember 20, 2012, 12:00 amNews >

Okay, so Johnny Depp made pirates of old "cool" again in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, but when you're going to talk like a pirate, as you were undoubtedly doing on Wednesday's National Talk Like a Pirate Day, you should keep in mind that Depp's performance is just the tip of the iceberg.

For "real" pirate talk to celebrate National Talk Like a Pirate Day, stick to old traditional favorites like inserting "aarrr" in the middle of every word, as has been spoofed in a Saturday Night Live skit hosted by Peter Sarsgaard (Sarsgaaaaarrrd, as it were), "shiver me timbers" and "ahoy."

The holiday was founded by John Bauer and Mark Summers of Albany, Oregon in 1995, and gained worldwide attention when humorist Dave Barry wrote about it in 2002, reports CBC News.

"I have decided to throw my full support behind Talk Like a Pirate Day," Barry wrote at the time. "To help promote this important cause, I have decided to seek the endorsement of famous celebrities, and I am pleased to report that, as of today, Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Britney Spears, Brad Pitt, Oprah Winfrey, the Osbournes, Tiger Woods, Ted Koppel, the Sopranos, Puff Doody [sic] and the late Elvis Presley are all people who I hope will read this column and become big supporters. I see no need to recruit President Bush, because he already talks like a pirate."

Whatever stage Barry set in 2002 seemed to have some kind of lasting effect among Chiefs of State. President Barack Obama — or at least staff with access to his Twitter account — showed support on Wednesday by tweeting a pic of Obama talking to — you guessed it! — a pirate. While the twitter picture might not have come from the President himself, being as he personally signs his own tweets, the caption did read, "Arrr you in?"