BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that?

Subject: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say th
From: katlaughing
Date: 09 Jan 06 - 05:11 PM

Just watched an old pirate movie. Every other word was "arrgghhh." Did pirates really say that? Where did it come from? What other things like this have you seen in movies, etc.?

If this was covered in an old thread, sorry. Perhaps a new one can be some fun, too.:-)

Thanks,

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that
From: Rapparee
Date: 09 Jan 06 - 05:30 PM

Aaaaaaaaargh! Avast, me hearties! Hoist the m'nsail an' batten down the keelhaul, we be overtakin' her in a moment! Stand to yer guns, ye scurvy dogs! Aye! Aye! Away all boarders! Don't stand for a minute any of their back talk, either!

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 09 Jan 06 - 05:39 PM

No, pirates don't say "Aaaaargh!" Charlie Brown says "Aaaaargh!" Or is it Linus? I'm pretty sure it's not that bitch Lucy.

Pirates say "Aaaaarrrr!" No "gh" on the end. They say "Aaaaarrrr!" because it's as far as they got in learning their alphabets. "Esssss" was just a little too advanced for them.

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 09 Jan 06 - 06:04 PM

It would be interesting to know where that stupid convention came from, out of what cretinous Hollywood (I assume) brain it issued.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that?
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 09 Jan 06 - 06:15 PM

Seems to have originated (maybe) with the OTT portrayal of Long John Silver by Robert Newton. He was wont to add a goodly slice of ham to most of his characterisations.

Don T.

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 09 Jan 06 - 06:29 PM

Charlie Brown does NOT say "aaaargh!", he says "Auuuughh!". There is no "r" in "Auuughhh!". The number of "u"'s and "g"'s and "h"'s is variable, but there is no "r".

Everyone else in the comic Peanuts says "Auuughhh!" too. (When under great stress.)

Lucy would give you a good piece of her mind, Bee-Dub, and she would go on about it at quite some length, possibly prompting you to go ARRRRRGH! at some point, but it would do you no good at all.

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that?
From: TheBigPinkLad
Date: 09 Jan 06 - 06:30 PM

Indeed, Don. Read all about the great man here: http://www.mooncove.com/newton/

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 09 Jan 06 - 06:36 PM

Thanks for the correction, Little Hawrrrrk. That means nobody goes "Aaaarrrrrgggghhhh!" I guess. Oh well....

By the way, is there any truth to the rumor that Lucy was an understudy of Penelope Rutledge?

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 09 Jan 06 - 06:53 PM

It seems to have come from the phrase 'Ar, Jim me lad....'

Ar is quite often used as 'yes'... usually in the West Country.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that?
From: GUEST,Clogger
Date: 09 Jan 06 - 07:07 PM

LtS may have something there.
Most of the "navy" men were from Cornwall, Devon etc, their accents would render normal verbal comunication into a series of ooooh's and arrrgh's to someone speaking the Queen's (King's) english! If you are thinking in terms of Pirates, cannonfire and boarding parties swinging across from ship to ship, it would probably be the "aaarrrrrrrgh" often heared which translates into "oh god i'm gointodiehelpmeplease!!!!!" or the "oh shit iv'e been hit by musket shot and the doc will have to cut my leg off"

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that
From: katlaughing
Date: 09 Jan 06 - 07:14 PM

And here I thought maybe Snoppy's "arf" was its origin!

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that?
From: Kaleea
Date: 09 Jan 06 - 07:15 PM

Perhaps someone on the 'Cat has a crystal ball, or is a psychodellic and can contact Errol Flynn and Bluebeard or perhaps Black Bart for us. Did the ladye pirates such as Anne Bonny or Mary Read say "Aaaaaarrrrrrhhhhhhh," or "Aaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhhh" or neither?
Oh yeah, the real burning question is, did the pirates wear the groovy striped shirts like Kirk Douglas?

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that?
From: Ebbie
Date: 09 Jan 06 - 09:13 PM

They all said eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that
From: Rapparee
Date: 09 Jan 06 - 09:46 PM

Actually, they said, "Oh, goodness me! I DO believe that that ship-of-the-line is shooting at us! They should stop that instantly, for if they don't someone is certain to get hurt! And that sailor should stop running with that sword or he'll put someone's eye out!"

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that?
From: Bill D
Date: 09 Jan 06 - 09:55 PM

"being a pirate is all fun & games, till somebody analyzes the cant & vernacular."

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that?
From: Don Firth
Date: 09 Jan 06 - 09:55 PM

I've seen several versions of "Treasure Island," with various actors playing Long John Silver (including Charlton Heston!!???), but the quintessential portrayal of Long John Silver was by Wallace Beery in the 1934 version of the film (I didn't see it in 1934, I saw in a late-night classic movie rerun).

I couldn't find a picture of him as Long John Silver, but here he is in another role. Clicky. And another shot with frequent co-star Marjorie Main. The Beautiful People.

Now, that's glamour, folks!!

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that?
From: Grab
Date: 10 Jan 06 - 07:31 AM

It's easier for the extras to do a generic "arrrr" than to actually get dialogue for them...

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Jan 06 - 11:37 PM

Maybe they were Irish pirates actually saying "Arrah."

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that
From: katlaughing
Date: 11 Jan 06 - 02:53 PM

LOL, thanks, folks!

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that?
From: Cool Beans
Date: 11 Jan 06 - 02:59 PM

Snoopy didn't say "Arf." He did say "Bleah!" when irked. Sandy, Little Orphan Annie's dog, said "Arf."

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that?
From: Bill D
Date: 11 Jan 06 - 03:23 PM

giving rise to the expression, "L'il Arf & Nonny"

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that?
From: Barry Finn
Date: 11 Jan 06 - 04:37 PM

Hi Kaleea
I don't know if Anne Bonny or Mary Read moaned aaaarrrghh but as Anne's lover, Capt Calico Jack, passed them by & said "If instead of these weaklings I only had had some more women with me" she's said to have retorted "Had you fought like a man, you need not have been hanged like a dog". Anne & Mary then went on to "plead their bellies". Pregnant at that time could not be excuted.

Maybe the sound comes from seasick sailors hanging over the rail, heaving up bait & shouting at the wake.
Barry

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that?
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 11 Jan 06 - 05:57 PM

I had a hunch the expression might have come from Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island," so I found the complete text at a site belonging to the University of Virginia Library and searched it. Trouble is, I'm not sure how to spell it. I tried "ar" "aar" "arr" "ahr" and found nothing. Maybe others would like to have a go at it.

Subject: RE: BS: Just Hollywood or did they really say that
From: gnomad
Date: 11 Jan 06 - 07:06 PM

Surely the extras must have been saying "Rhubaaarrrrb, rhubaaarrrhhhb."?