arr
See also: ärr
A 19th-century portrait by John Lewis Marks of the actor C. Pitt dressed as the “Bloodhound of the Bay”, a pirate. Pirates are stereotypically regarded as frequently using the interjection “arr!”
English
WOTD – 19 September 2016
Etymology 1
Etymology 2
Possibly from aye.
The pirate-imitation form was derived from the West Country dialect after its use by West Country-born actor Robert Newton (1905–1956) in the films Treasure Island (1950) and Blackbeard the Pirate (1952)—and the former’s spin-off media—in which he played, respectively, the fictional pirate Long John Silver and the historical pirate Edward “Blackbeard” Teach (c. 1680 – 1718; also a West Country native).[1][2][3]
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: är, IPA(key): /ɑː(ɹ)/
- Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)
pronunciation notes
When imitating a pirate, greater emphasis is often placed on the rhotic sound.
Interjection
arr
- (Britain, West Country, West Midlands) Yes.
- Used stereotypically in imitation of pirates.
- 2004, Peter Walsh, How to Organize (Just About) Everything: More than 500 Step-by-Step Instructions for Everything from Organizing Your Closets to Planning a Wedding to Creating a Flawless Filing System, New York, N.Y.: Free Press, →ISBN, instruction 480:
- Arr, matey! Tis a dangerous life, the sea – full of giant beasts, raging storms and wayward ships bobbing around like steel icebergs.
- 2007, Howard [A.] Norman, Devotion, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Company, →ISBN, page 90:
- He did an imitation of a pirate: "Arr, Arr, Arr, me buckos."
- 2008, Gwen Lepkowski, “Tornado”, in Cross-country Treasure Hunt (and the Mystery that Followed), Longwood, Fla.: Xulon Press, →ISBN, page 46:
- Suddenly a pirate voice said, "Arr, Arr, Arr. Are you looking for me gold?" Josh looked startled and Will began to laugh.
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Derived terms
Verb
arr (third-person singular simple present arrs, present participle arring, simple past and past participle arred)
- (rare) To say “arr” like a pirate.
- How do you know someone's a pirate? Because they arr.
- 2005, “Treasure Island: A New Adaptation by Grace Barnes”, in Theatre Record: The Chronicle of the British Stage, London: Shuttleworth, ISSN 0962-1792, OCLC 909435034, page 968:
- This distances the audience from the ripping yam element of the story, and for all the sails and stockades which decorate the stage, there are times when the pace drops and the inevitable oo-arring gets a bit coarse. One small pirate in the audience commented that it got a bit boring when they all stood around talking—and he was not entirely wrong.
- 2011, Sarah Bird, The Gap Year: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, ISBN 978-0-307-59279-8; 1st trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Gallery Books, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4516-7876-5, page 9:
- Pirates become a running joke between us. When she was a sophomore, I once served her artichokes, arugula, and arroz con pollo for dinner, and we "arred" our way through the entire meal.
References
- Peter Grego (2013), “‘Aharrr, Jim Lad!’”, in Cornwall's Strangest Tales: Extraordinary but True Stories (Strangest Series), London: Portico, →ISBN.
- Amy M. Davis (2014) Handsome Heroes and Vile Villains: Masculinity in Disney's Feature Films, Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, →ISBN, page 193.
- Gary Holpin (2014) Exmouth to Plymouth: Britain's Heritage Coast (Britain's Heritage Coast), Stroud, Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing Limited, →ISBN.
See also
Tarao
References
- 2001, Encyclopaedia of northeast India, volume 3 →ISBN, page 230
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