Arrrr! Pirate speak be but a myth. Ye’ve been warned.

Shiver me timbers, matey. It’s International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Every year, people throughout the world pay homage to the bearded, swashbuckling seamen that make up some of our most beloved childhood stories. But the pop culture depiction of pirate language as we know it today is probably fiction, according to FIU English Professor Phillip M. Carter.

“Pirates likely had their unique way of speaking that may have been continuous with sailor speak,” Carter said. “If they were recruited into piracy out of economic necessity, they would likely speak working class varieties of the regional dialects spoken in their hometowns, which likely mixed with innovations to the language made at sea.”

The vernacular we enjoy from Captain Hook, Jack Sparrow and other characters is likely owed to the adventure novel Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, according to Carter. The coming-of-age story follows Jim Hawkins as he sets sail searching for buried treasure, but finds himself caught up in a deadly mutiny where he must outwit the cunning pirate Long John Silver. Published in 1883, it is one of the most popular pirate stories of modern times, and it is credited with influencing popular perceptions of pirates, including maps marked with an X, schooners, deserted islands, and one-legged seamen with parrots on their shoulders.

So, although you’re probably not speaking how Blackbeard, Black Sam or Calico Jack once did, pour yourself some Nelson’s folly (if you’re over 21) and raise your nipperkin. This day only happens once a year. Savvy?