Have y'all noticed the pirates out patrolling the streets today? Been poked by an errant scimitar?

Got a jokester in the cubicle across from you wearing a peg leg and an eye patch for purely recreational purposes? Have anyone in your office dressed up like Johnny Depp impersonating Keith Richards as Cap'n Jack Sparrow? Or heard any good pirate jokes lately?

It's International Talk Like a Pirate Day today. It's the day you'd be welcome to put your Jolly Roger in full view of the public today and annoy folks by calling them scurvy dogs and salty scallywags. Also, references to the poopdeck are absolutely encouraged.

The good-hearted holiday began with two ordinary guys, John Baur and Mark Summers, who talked like pirates to annoy their friends and crack themselves up. They picked September 19 as the day of celebration because, a) it was Summer's ex-wife's birthday, and b) nothing else was happening on that day that they knew of.

Without any real mission for Talk Like a Pirate Day, the two friends promptly forgot about the holiday until the following year when a friend reminded them about its impending arrival and asked how best to observe the day. They surmised that a national spokesperson was the right way to spread the word. And with fate and the sea on their side, it turned out Baur knew how to get ahold of nationally syndicated humor columnist Dave Barry.

With a slight bit of cajoling, Barry got back to them and agreed to write a column introducing Summers and Baur's swashbuckling brainchild to the American public. That was in 2002. Today, Talk Like a Pirate Day is celebrated around the world, with check-ins via social media in countries like Greenland, Nigeria and China. Of course, the pirate calls sound a little bit different in all those places. But the spirit of carousing, stealing and never showering is alive and well.

Over the last nine years, Summers (Cap'n Slappy) and Baur (Ol' Chumbucket) have made the pirate life their own, collecting stories, songs, personality tests and party kits for their website that will help everyone engaged in celebratory plunder collect a fine bit of booty. (The treasure kind. But, hey, maybe the other kind, too.)

If you're looking to find your own Jolly Roger or Black Pearl, we suggest heading over to Opal Divine's - Penn Field this evening to celebrate National Talk Like a Pirate Day the right way. Come dressed in your best pirate and/or wench attire and enter to win all the gold galleons in the costume contest. Enjoy the music of The Jolly GaRogers and the antics of emcee Quatermaster Griff. All of the proceeds from the door go toward helping Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas send cancer to Davy Jones' Locker.

So get out there, ya scurvy seadogs! And staarrrrrt talking like a blasted pirate alrrrrrready.