Talk like a Somali pirate

Real life pirate phrasebook. [Link]

The Horn of Africa is without question the hotbed of piracy today. A quick glance at the International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Centre Live Piracy Map shows a dense thicket of attacks, and even though some analysis indicates that the areas of attacks may be decreasing in size, and that the frequency of successful attacks is decreasing, the density of attack is increasing and the risk  of attacks remains high. And the focus of this activity remains Somalia.

What languages are these pirates saying? Based on the IMB’s reported risk zones, and country data for Somalia from the CIA’s World Factbook, they are probably speaking in Somali, Arabic (probably a Yemeni dialect), Italian (a vestige of Somalia’s colonial heritage) or English.

But what exactly are they saying? A good source for how to say something important in a combat situation at sea – and in a host of other interesting situations – are the Defense Language Institute’sField Support Modules for a given language. Sadly, Danger Room can’t help you out dealing with pirates on your next trip to Lake Como as DLI does not produce an Italian module, but below are 20 common pirate phrases in English, Somali, and Yemeni Arabic, along with where you can find them in the guides.

Go to the link to read phrases like this:

"Where is the control room?" / "Roogta hoganka?"