A pirate’s life for me

What is the Davy Jones locker, anyway? 10 cool pirate terms explained

Image: David Dibert

Alongside cowboys and knights, pirates have always been a playtime staple. These historical figures have inspired countless childhood adventures, as well as several timeless characters from movies and books like Captain Hook or Long John Silver. In that sense, pirates’ carefree lifestyle also influenced their unique vocabulary, which has become as synonymous with their culture as their roguish exploits have. We have selected 10 of the most iconic terms and phrases from pirate slang to help us relive those endless afternoons playing with our friends. Enjoy!

Image: Steven Beyer

What’s a better way of welcoming you to this article than with a typical pirate salute? "Ahoy" is a versatile sailing term that can be used for greeting, bidding farewell, or simply catching the attention of someone. Being the seafaring adventurers that they were, this word is ever-present in pirate vocabulary and still playfully used by sailors everywhere.

Funnily, the origins of this word can be traced back to a landscape on which a pirate would not be particularly comfortable: Cattle herding. Apparently, "ahoy" comes from adding an extra letter to "hoy", a common English call to drive cattle.

Image: Palle Knudsen

The term "scallywag" (also sometimes spelled "scalawag") describes someone who is well-regarded, although he behaves in a somewhat mischievous manner. You can see how this term is now synonymous with pirates: Although these sea bandits were once deeply feared and despised, they are now looked at in a cheekier and devilish light.

What’s interesting is that scallywag was not a popular term during the time when pirates were most prominent (late 17th and 18th century). In fact, it most likely came into use during 19th century America, when the first pirate novels and plays were published.

Image: Sabina Kallari

Leave it to pirates to turn a simple wooden plank into a dreadful symbol. "Walking the Plank" describes a method of execution in which the accused is forced to walk on a wooden plank extended over the side of the ship, often bound and blindfolded.

While nowadays this technique is heavily associated with pirate culture, few (if any) real-life cases of people forced to walk the plank have been documented. In truth, it seems that it has become such a staple from its frequent use in literature and movies featuring pirates.

Image: Mateusz Dach

"Shiver me timbers" is an expression that was probably never uttered by a real pirate, but it has become so ingrained in this culture that it is difficult to find a fictional pirate who hasn’t said this phrase at least once. With hindsight, it seems only natural that this phrase has become so popular since it was first said by one of literature’s most iconic pirates.

In Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1883 classic "Treasure Island", the character of Long John Silver (considered by many to be the quintessential fictional pirate) says variations of "shiver me timbers" seven times throughout the novel. These exclamations were used to denote Long John’s surprise, anger, or annoyance, but they all denote an extreme shock, since the timbers referenced are the wooden support frames that hold a ship together.

Image: Anthony 🙂

Yeah, we know: "Argh" is not a word, but it is the go-to expression for any wanna-be pirate. Want to strike fear into the hearts of your seafaring enemies? Or maybe you just want to add an extra layer of drama to that Halloween costume. In any case, this onomatopoeia is the ultimate sound of anyone who chooses to impersonate a dreaded corsair.

This entry should be titled "sounds with an R associated with pirates", since other similar-sounding onomatopoeias like "yarr" or "‘arr" are also insanely popular. In that sense, trying to trace the origins of these sounds can be a rather daunting task. However, most sources agree that this type of pirate snarling was inspired by actor Robert Newton’s many groundbreaking pirate roles, including Long John Silver in the 1950s adaptation of "Treasure Island" and Blackbeard in 1952s "Blackbeard the Pirate".

Image: Jadon Barnes

No, we are not referring to a locked metal compartment where a man named Davy Jones might store his gym equipment. In truth, Davy Jones is the pirates’ very own boogeyman, a legendary spirit hellbent on taking sailors’ lives. In that sense, the expression "Davy Jones’ locker" is used to describe the final resting place of many dreaded pirates: The bottom of the sea.

The first written mention of Davy Jones is attributed to Robinson Crusoe’s author, Daniel Defoe, who mentions in a book the story of an enraged captain threatening to throw his crew to "Davy Jones’ Locker". Some believe the legend was inspired by a real pirate called David Jones, who sailed through the Indian Ocean in the 17th century.

Image: Tanhauser Vázquez R.

You would think that, for an honest person, being called a pirate would be insulting enough, but did you know that there’s an adjective that can be added to give an extra kick to the deceitful nature of corsairs? By today’s standards, the word "hornswoggling" sounds downright silly, but its meaning is less charming: to "hornswoggle" someone means to cheat or deceive them, usually for monetary gain.

Although the phrase "hornswoggling buccaneer" perfectly describes most pirates, this quirky word is by no means exclusive to them, since it is also associated with cowboys and gunslingers. In any case, we can’t end this entry without reiterating this warning: It doesn’t matter if it sounds like a Dr. Seuss character; don’t trust any hornswoggler you come across.

Image: Amy Syiek

Have you ever wondered why the quintessential pirate flag is called a "Jolly Roger"? Don’t you agree that the name seems a little too cheerful for such an ominous and threatening symbol? Unless the sunny disposition of a fellow named Roger inspired the first of these black flags, this name doesn’t really make sense.

Well, the truth is that no one really knows when the term Jolly Roger was first used, although we can be certain that it is not connected to the name Roger. The most prevailing theory points to the fact that pirates originally raised plain flags to indicate their would-be targets their intentions, where a red flag meant that no quarter would be given. In that sense, many believe that the term "Jolly Roger" comes from the French expression Joli Rouge, which translates to "pretty red".

Image: N.

Would you believe us if we told you that this entry features the most insulting word on this list? Granted, for us non-pirate folks the term "landlubber" doesn’t seem that harsh, but trust us: If you ever call a pirate this, be prepared for a loud and angry response.

As you might have guessed, "landlubber" is a discouraging adjective used to describe anyone not versed in the seafaring ways of the pirates. Basically, anyone who is more comfortable at land than at sea. You can see how a pirate might take offense to this, seeing as how sailing skills are an incredible source of pride for any corsair worth their salt.

Image: Lisa Fotios

We’ll end this article with a pirate term for comradery, which at the end of the day is one of the many things that pirates can teach us: How it feels to belong in a crew. Although pirates were definitively deceitful outlaws, they were bound by a code of honor that focused on trusting in your commander and your crewmates with your life.

In that sense, the word "matey" is one of the most affectionate things a pirate can say to another. This term, which is used for a friend or a comrade, seems to come from the French word matelot, which means "sailor" or "seaman". If you want to end up with more than a few pirate friends, then this is the word for you!

Changing names takes courage

For better or for worse? 10 brands that changed their names

Image: Kristian Egelund

Building a brand takes time, effort, money, and a lot of other things. That’s why, when someone throws everything overboard and starts again with a new name, more than a few eyebrows are raised. Sometimes these kinds of decisions are reversed. Prince changed his by-then household name to a symbol that no one knew how to pronounce—and later returned to being Prince. But sometimes, these name changes are successful. Take a look at the following ten examples of now-famous brands and their previously, often not-so-great, names. Did you know any of them?

Image: Giorgio Trovato

No one would argue that a name like AuctionWeb is more descriptive than eBay, right? Still, the online auction juggernaut’s founder, Pierre Omidyar, decided that eBay was a better fit. In 1997, he officially changed the company’s name and began advertising the website on a massive scale.

For some reason, Omidyar initially wanted to buy the echobay.com domain, but it was already registered by a Canadian mining company. Dropping the "cho" led to the name eBay.com.

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Image: wu yi

Everybody knows Nike, the global sportswear giant. But in its humble origins, it went by a different name: Blue Ribbon Sports. The brand had a distribution deal with Onitsuka (now Asics), a Japanese company. When that partnership ended, Blue Ribbon Sports changed its name to Nike, after the Greek goddess of victory.

Its famous "swoosh" logo was introduced at the same time. Carolyn Davidson, a design student, charged $35 for the logo, although Knight eventually gave her 500 shares of stock in 1983.

Image: Muhammad Asyfaul

Confinity was founded in 1998, originally aiming to develop security software for handheld devices, but it quickly transitioned to the digital payments market. The team began developing a digital wallet, which allowed users to store and transfer money electronically.

After merging with Elon Musk’s online bank, X.com, in 2000, the company was rebranded as X for a short time and later became PayPal.

Image: Jaimie Harmsen

Early internet users will remember the days when Yahoo! was the go-to search engine before Google. But even before that, founders Jerry Yang and David Filo—then students at Stanford University—created a website called Jerry and David’s Guide to the World Wide Web. It served as a directory of websites organized hierarchically, rather than as a searchable index of pages.

Thinking the name was too long to remember, they renamed the site Yahoo. Since the word "Yahoo" was already trademarked, they added an exclamation mark, creating Yahoo!.

Image: Aleks Dorohovich

In case you haven’t noticed, the full Kentucky Fried Chicken name hasn’t appeared in the brand’s official identity for quite some time. Founded by Colonel Harland Sanders in Corbin, Kentucky, the company became a fast-food behemoth that popularized fried chicken worldwide.

In 1991, the brand officially adopted the shorter KFC, a name it was already widely known by. Kyle Craig, president of KFC U.S., admitted the change was partly an attempt to distance the chain from the unhealthy connotations of the word "fried."

Image: Good Faces Agency

Different name, same concept—that could sum up MatchBox’s rebranding as Tinder. The original app launched at a hackathon in 2012, but the team soon realized the name was too similar to Match.com. They rebranded as Tinder, shifting the imagery from a box of matches to the small pieces of wood used to start a fire.

The company’s flame-themed logo remained consistent throughout the change.

Image: Alexander Shatov

Noah Glass developed a startup called Odeo as a platform for podcasting, but the venture hit a major setback when Apple announced that iTunes would include its own podcasting service. One of the employees then proposed an idea focused on "status"—short updates about what people were doing at a given moment.

This idea became Twitter, initially called Twttr, a service where you could text one number and have the message broadcast to all your friends. Years later, after acquiring the company, Elon Musk rebranded it simply as X.

Image: Mathias Reding

Every day, a sandwich shop is born somewhere in the world. In 1965, 17-year-old Fred DeLuca opened a sandwich shop to help pay for medical school, using a loan from Dr. Peter Buck, a family friend. In gratitude, he named it "Pete’s Super Submarines."

As the brand grew, the name was shortened to Pete’s Subway, and by the 1970s, the "Pete’s" was dropped altogether. According to one theory, the change was partly because "Pete’s Submarines" sounded a lot like "Pizza Marines" when advertised on the radio.

Image: Christian Wiediger

Before settling on Amazon, Jeff Bezos toyed with several names for his online bookstore, including "Cadabra" and "Relentless." He even registered Relentless.com, which still redirects to Amazon today.

Bezos wanted a name starting with "A" to appear early in alphabetical listings, and he was drawn to the Amazon River—vast, powerful, and world-famous. The choice was made, and the rest is history.

Image: Deeksha Pahariya

Everybody knows Instagram, the ubiquitous photo-sharing app that invaded every nook and cranny of the Earth with smartphones and selfie sticks. But before it became the photo-sharing giant we know today, Instagram started life as Burbn—a check-in app inspired by Foursquare, with extras like gaming and photo sharing

Founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger noticed that users overwhelmingly favored the photo feature. They stripped away the rest, rebranding as Instagram—a blend of "instant" and "telegram."