Pirates of the Caribbean

[sexy_bef69]

On PoTC, Just as Orlando Bloom and (sexy) Johnny Depp are taking over the ship near the beginning, Bloom jumps down and shouts 'Aye! Avast!' Can anyone tell me what that means?

[derbyram]

Avast means stop in piratical lingo.

[andy hughes]

The phrase is a corruption of a Dutch expression 'Hou vast' which means 'Hold fast', and means to stop what ever action is being done. The term is not strictly piratical, it was used in any naval vessel.

[Freddi]

'aye' obviously used as the word 'yes' in agreement with Johnny Depp's previous sentence. 'Avast' means 'cease' or 'stop'. A nautical word which comes from the dutch 'houd vast', 'hold fast'. i hope that answers your question sufficiently