Pirate or privateer: which one to choose?

These are the words that awaken the child in me ... In the language of all little boys, the pirate is the villain, it is Captain Hook with whom Peter Pan has a hard time.

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Pirates, for those who have neither faith nor law

But there is worse than him because

pirates

have always existed, and they are still rampant. Among the most formidable, there is Blackbeard (in the 18th century), and his contemporary Jack Rackham. And even, man-woman parity obliges, the horrible Ching Shih (XIXe century), nicknamed "

the terror of South China

". A female mistress who had 400 pirate ships under her command.

The pirates had neither faith nor law

, they attacked and plundered ships for their own account.

Julius Caesar himself was not spared: he was captured by pirates who freed him for ransom.

But he found his captors and slaughtered them all.

In the Pirates family, I would like ... Between the one who hijacks a plane (hijacker) and the one who takes control of our computer (hacker), we are surrounded by these predators.

There are even some who appropriate their neighbor's recipe to market it.

Read also: Pirates: a Spanish ship attacked

Privateers, for those who have permission

Better not to call

a privateer

a pirate, he might take it badly. Because it is completely legal for a privateer to attack a ship.

It carries out its activity with the authorization of the government

. According to Surcouf (privateer born in Saint-Malo in 1773), it feeds his man well: he has become a very rich shipowner. As the corsairs were tough guys, we still talk about them today: the proverb "

Corsair, corsair and a half

" is an invitation to retaliate. But it is especially in the imagination of children that they exist: Santa Claus will tell you that every year he gives out outfits with saber and headband. Boarding!

Extract from

Les nuances de la langue française. 

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