A chance encounter with University of California San Diego professor of history Mark Hanna, author of Pirate Nests and the Rise of the British Empire, 1570-1740, leads to a discussion of how the saying “arrr!” came to be associated with pirates. This exclamation seems to have been popularized by British actor Robert Newton in the 1950 movie Treasure Island. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “The Source of the Pirate’s “Arrr!””
I had the great good fortune to be at a dinner where I met an associate professor of history
At the University of California, San Diego, named Mark Hanna.
And as it turns out, he’s an expert on pirates.
Ooh, nice.
So of course, I had to ask him an etymological question about pirates.
Just one?
Just, well, that was all we had time for.
But actually, he’s written a book called Pirate Nests and the Rise of the British Empire, 1570 to 1740,
Which I want to read because he addresses some other etymologies in there.
But, of course, my first question for him was, how long has the word R been associated with pirates?
Right. You find a pirate expert. That is the first thing you ask.
That’s the first thing I ask.
What did he say?
He said that he has not come across it any earlier than the 1950 movie Treasure Island.
And the actor, Robert Newton, who was enormously popular in Britain, is the one who went around saying,
And he just does like an utterance.
It wasn’t even like part of another word.
It was just part of his talk and his little squinty eye.
What a legacy as an actor, right?
You think about when you watch the credits of films, you think about how many of those people will make the permanent lasting impact.
But this guy did it to the language.
He did.
And Mark Hanna actually sent me to a YouTube clip
That shows Robert Newton uttering R again and again.
So we will put a link to that on our website.
Or talk to us on Twitter @wayword.
