Maybe I missed it, but I have some thoughts.
Pirates are, of course, stereotyped these days. But pirates as we know them in classic literature were also caricatures of real pirates. Seen as dirty, uneducated, and merciless, real pirates were often no more or less hygienic than other sailors. Edward "Blackbeard" Teach, the infamous captain, was highly educated. Of course, what pirates did was illegal, but they were smugglers, and why fight if you can slip through Johnny Law's watchful gaze? Pirates were often content to leave the law to themselves, and engineered ways of doing so (like flying under false flags in certain waters). Many could and would fight if necessary, having been part of various navies at some point, but most would have rather completed a job without a fight.
Yes, there were violence-loving pirates closer to the stereotype, and yes, some of the "piratin' and pillagin'" did take place. They certainly weren't wholesome folk, but they weren't always the "scalliwags" of legend. Many ships had democratic processes to elect a captain, and decisions were often made with input from the crew. Some captains shared information as a matter of course to deter mutiny, rather than risk it. If all your men have all the same information, then what's the point of mutiny? You kill the captain, and you've only cut out one share. I'm sure that happened, but not as often as we're led to believe.
Believe it or not, some pirate ships even had a chaplain of sorts, to perform funerals, weddings, and the like. Sometimes the captain served that role. Kind of like many Irish or Hispanic gangs in the United States, they have a strange amalgamation of a religious sense with a criminal lifestyle. I've seen gang members swear by their crucifix to keep them safe from death. They accept their punishment of incarceration as God's will. I've personally known gang members who believed God wouldn't allow them to be killed or arrested until it was their time, and it was all for a purpose, in their mind.
All that to say that your pirates don't need to swear to be believable. If you want to chart a course closer to the stereotype, check out the insanely popular Pirates of the Caribbean movies. The dialog is witty, humorous, and to my recollection, devoid of any swearing.
In closing, one side note I also didn't see mentioned: "Bloody" came from denoting those of "special" blood (i.e., aristocrats, royalty, etc.). In a pejorative sense, it was used to say someone was acting snooty or spoiled, in the manner of those who thought, by virtue of their lineage, they were better than everyone else. "You bloody jerk" would indicate someone was being a jerk by acting like someone seen as spoiled. It was seen as taboo in a time when the public standards were very prudish. In my estimation, it is equitable to "spoiled," if it can be equated to anything we have in common English today. It's more often used as a rude intensifier, about as rude as "crap."
You wouldn't necessarily use "crap" in front of polite company or kids, but it's not the worst thing you could say.
Pirates are, of course, stereotyped these days. But pirates as we know them in classic literature were also caricatures of real pirates. Seen as dirty, uneducated, and merciless, real pirates were often no more or less hygienic than other sailors. Edward "Blackbeard" Teach, the infamous captain, was highly educated. Of course, what pirates did was illegal, but they were smugglers, and why fight if you can slip through Johnny Law's watchful gaze? Pirates were often content to leave the law to themselves, and engineered ways of doing so (like flying under false flags in certain waters). Many could and would fight if necessary, having been part of various navies at some point, but most would have rather completed a job without a fight.
Yes, there were violence-loving pirates closer to the stereotype, and yes, some of the "piratin' and pillagin'" did take place. They certainly weren't wholesome folk, but they weren't always the "scalliwags" of legend. Many ships had democratic processes to elect a captain, and decisions were often made with input from the crew. Some captains shared information as a matter of course to deter mutiny, rather than risk it. If all your men have all the same information, then what's the point of mutiny? You kill the captain, and you've only cut out one share. I'm sure that happened, but not as often as we're led to believe.
Believe it or not, some pirate ships even had a chaplain of sorts, to perform funerals, weddings, and the like. Sometimes the captain served that role. Kind of like many Irish or Hispanic gangs in the United States, they have a strange amalgamation of a religious sense with a criminal lifestyle. I've seen gang members swear by their crucifix to keep them safe from death. They accept their punishment of incarceration as God's will. I've personally known gang members who believed God wouldn't allow them to be killed or arrested until it was their time, and it was all for a purpose, in their mind.
All that to say that your pirates don't need to swear to be believable. If you want to chart a course closer to the stereotype, check out the insanely popular Pirates of the Caribbean movies. The dialog is witty, humorous, and to my recollection, devoid of any swearing.
In closing, one side note I also didn't see mentioned: "Bloody" came from denoting those of "special" blood (i.e., aristocrats, royalty, etc.). In a pejorative sense, it was used to say someone was acting snooty or spoiled, in the manner of those who thought, by virtue of their lineage, they were better than everyone else. "You bloody jerk" would indicate someone was being a jerk by acting like someone seen as spoiled. It was seen as taboo in a time when the public standards were very prudish. In my estimation, it is equitable to "spoiled," if it can be equated to anything we have in common English today. It's more often used as a rude intensifier, about as rude as "crap."
You wouldn't necessarily use "crap" in front of polite company or kids, but it's not the worst thing you could say.