Corsair Cant

Sailors have always been prone to creating their own dialects and the Red Hawk Corsairs are no exception.

Geographical Distribution

Corsair Cant is not a particularly common dialect to hear in Turoza, and you are most likely to hear it spoken in coastal towns and cities, especially if they have a large port. However, because of its association with the Red Hawk Corsairs, one should be very wary when speaking to someone who uses Corsair Cant, as they are either trying to emulate the notorious pirates, or are one themselves.

Morphology

Some of the phrases and terms in Corsair Cant stem from naval slang used by sailors from the Sultanate of Fashaddon, as the crew of first Red Hawk ship were Fashaddonite sailors themselves. Over the intervening years, the cant has evolved a distinctive vocabulary of its own, partly due to chance, and partly as the Corsairs themselves have consciously tried to make their cant as individualistic as possible.

Common Phrases

Arrow-man: Someone who is so useless in a fight that they might as well be fired out of one of the ships ballistae in lieu of an arrow.
Backbiter: An individual who can’t be trusted, or occasionally a coward. The phrase is of a similar background to ‘backstabber’.
Coin Swallower: Someone who hoards or is incredibly stingy with money.
Fashitonnite: Derogatory term for someone from the Sultanate of Fashaddon.
Hawk Fodder: Term used to describe someone who is seen as being weak or helpless, often used in relation to merchant ships.
Head Face: An alternative way of saying s***head as toilets on ships are referred to as ‘heads’.
Head Wash: Someone who smells incredibly bad.
Land Legged: Descriptive term for someone who is clearly not comfortable at sea, or who gets seasick often
Sea Hag Scarer: An incredibly ugly or unpleasant person, i.e. someone who is so awful they would even scare a Sea Hag with their looks or personality.