I got all the way through Talk Like a Pirate Day yesterday without talking like a pirate even once. I consider this a triumph. In conversation, I tend to slip into different voices without a lot of thought, and the b-movie pirate voice is one of my regulars. Not talking like a pirate took considerable thought and self-discipline.
I do not, as a matter of course, approve of institutionalized comedy like Talk Like a Pirate Day, which makes it possible for people who aren't the least bit funny to simulate humor in a way that doesn't generate actual laughter. I also don't approve of stuff that is harmless but somehow universally assumed to be edgy, that can be easily adopted as the running-bit-of-the-day fodder by every morning radio team in the world without so much as a tut-tut from Standard & Practices.
A key element of comedy is surprise; there's nothing surprising about people talking like a pirate on Talk Like a Pirate Day. So, yesterday, I talked like myself. It bored even me, but I think I made a statement.
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