In films, books, cartoons, and toys, pirates often have an appearance that represents their adventurous lifestyle(= stile di vita). They usually wear 17th or 18th century clothes, a bandana or a feathered (= piumato) tricorne. They sometimes have an eye patch (= benda sull’occhio) and often carry a cutlass (= macete, grosso coltello) and a pistol, or swords and guns. They sometimes have scars (= cicatrici) and battle wounds (= ferite), rotten(= malandati) or missing (= mancanti) teeth, a hook (= uncino) or wooden leg (= gamba di legno). Some pirates are also described with pets like monkeys or parrots.
They speak English in a particular old accent. These descriptions derive from the figure of Long John Silver, character created by Robert Louis Stevenson in Treasure Island and then adapted into a film (1950). The eye patch refers to the Arab pirate Rahmah ibn Jabir al-Jalahimah who wore it after losing (= aver perso) an eye in battle in the 18th century.
Space pirates are science fiction character archetypes who operate in outer space (=spazio), rather than sailing (= piuttosto che veleggiare) the sea. As traditional seafaring pirates target (= prendono di mira) sailing ships, space pirates capture and plunder spaceships for cargo, money, and occasionally they steal (= rubano) the ship itself. However, their dress and speech corresponds to the particular author’s vision of the future.
In the 1990s, the International Talk Like a Pirate Day invented a parody holiday on September 19. during this day people “let out their inner pirate” (mostrano il pirata che c’è in loro) and they dress and speak as pirates.