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Talk Like A Pirate Today And Get Free Krispy Kreme Doughnuts! Avast!

By Aaron Homer
Published on: 02:55 PST, Sep 19, 2016

Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and you can parlay the unofficial holiday into a free Krispy Kreme doughnut — or even a dozen free doughnuts — depending on how far you want to go with your piracy.

As Krispy Kreme proudly notes on their website, all you have to do to get your free doughnut is show up at a Krispy Kreme and, well, talk like a pirate. And if you dress like a pirate, you’ll get a dozen!

“Any swashbuckling guest who talks like a pirate will receive one free Original Glazed doughnut, while fans who dress like a pirate will receive one dozen Original Glazed doughnuts.”

Talk Like A Pirate today at Krispy Kreme and get a free doughnut. [Image by Champiofoto/Shutterstock]

Krispy Kreme isn’t specifying what constitutes talking like a pirate, so I recommend speaking in a gravelly growl and peppering your speech with words like “Argh!” and “Avast!” But as for dressing like a pirate, there are rules: You have to have at least three pieces of pirate accoutrement. I say an eye patch, bandana, and a plastic sword at your side should “cut” it, so to speak.

Fortunately, Krispy Kreme is giving you an out in case you can’t, or won’t, dress like a pirate. Simply download their pirate filter for Snapchat, apply it to a photo of yourself, and voila! You’re dressed like a pirate — at least, enough to satisfy Krispy Kreme. Show your photo to a Krispy Kreme employee and get your free dozen doughnuts.

And if you’re not up to talking or dressing like a pirate, but still want in on the fun, you can always just buy a pirate-themed doughnut that Krispy Kreme created just for the day.

Krispy Kreme isn’t the only national food chain handing out free loot on Talk Like a Pirate Day. Think really hard: What other fast-food places in the U.S. could possibly have a connection to pirates? Give up? It’s Long John Silver’s! As CNET reports, if you talk like a pirate at LJS, you’ll get a free piece of fish or chicken. If you dress like a pirate, you’ll get a free two-piece chicken or fish basket.

So how did September 19 become International Talk Like a Pirate Day? Unlike Columbus Day or Memorial Day or other federally-recognized holidays, which came about through the regular legislative process, Talk Like a Pirate Day was created as a joke in 1995, and it just caught on. To this day, it’s only a holiday because everyone sort of collectively agrees that it’s a holiday. Unfortunately, Congress has yet to catch on and make it an official holiday.

‘Cap’n Slappy’ and ‘Ol’ Chumbucket,’ the founders of Talk Like a Pirate Day. [Image by Mark Summers and John Baur | Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and Resized | by CC BY SA 3.0]

By the way, you may not have known this, but real pirates — at least, the English-speaking ones — didn’t actually talk the way we think pirates talked. As Time notes, you can thank Walt Disney for how you think pirates talk.

Back in 1950, English actor Robert Newton, chewing up the scenery in Disney’s Treasure Island, tackled the role of Long John Silver with his native West Country accent. So iconic was Newton’s performance that his accent and speech patterns became the default way actors portrayed pirates.

So today as ye be knocking back that free Krispy Kreme doughnut, raise ye glass to Robert Newton, the original Talk Like a Pirate Guy.

[Featured Image by Ihor Voronin/Shutterstock]

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