International Talk Like a Pirate Day dawned Monday, a day when it's deemed alright to affectionately call co-workers scurvied sea-bags.

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The day has roots back to 1995, but officially started in 2002 when syndicated columnist Dave Barry was enlisted to give the concept national publicity, the Southern (Illinoisan) reports.

Since 2002, founders John "Ol' Chumbucket" Baur and Mark "Cap'n Slappy" Summers have written "Talk Like a Pirate Day" guides and host the talklikeapirate.com Web site.

The pair encourage frequent use of such terms as "Arrr,""Aye,""Avast" and calling others mateys or beauties.

Author and leadership trainer Bob Garrow, whose book "Ahoy Mates! Leadership Lessons from Successful Pirates," uses pirate metaphors to illustrate concepts he says can be beneficial to modern businesspeople.

He said the whimsical holiday is a welcome bit of silliness in an otherwise very serious world.

"Why not have a bit of fun? Life is too serious" he said.