Aarg.
It's Talk Like A Pirate Day [9] today … me … mateys (and it helps if you think of this as being spoken by Bob Newhart [10], who did a fantastic sendup of pirates in his show Newhart [11]).
Avast, ye … ye … ye swabbies (what is “avasting” anyway?).
Bunny wrote in saying that “avast” is a nautical term meaning “to stop.” How that term came about I don't know (nor did Bunny mention in her email).
[1] http://www.batemania.com/bateman365/day008.html
[2] http://www.batemania.com/bateman365/day020.html
[3] http://www.batemania.com/bateman365/day034.html
[4] http://www.batemania.com/bateman365/day070.html
[5] http://www.batemania.com/bateman365/day102.html
[6] http://www.batemania.com/bateman365/day174.html
[7] http://www.batemania.com/bateman365/day194.html
[8] http://www.batemania.com/bateman365/day227.html
[9] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk_Like_a_Pirate_Day
[10] http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/newhart_b.html