Ahoy, me mateys!

I know I usually blog about Windows Live, but this Facebook tip is too good not to share. Besides, now that Windows Live and Facebook are feeling the love, it seems totally apropos to have some fun.

You may be aware that, like a number of sites and services, you can customize the language that Facebook uses to display your content. These settings don’t affect posted content, such as comments, but rather the text that the platform uses to build the interface, including links, button captions, and labels. Most of us English speakers think nothing of it, but to the international community, it’s a pretty big deal to be able to match the service’s language to your locale.

If you’re just bored and have absolutely nothing to do, then you can change Facebook’s language to “pirate.” No kidding. Take a look at the transformation of my Facebook Home page:

A Pirate Looks at Facebook

How’d I manage this? Actually, it’s quite simple, if you know where to look. To change your Facebook language, click Settings > Language, and set Primary Language to English (Pirate). It’s toward the bottom of the list, so you may need to scroll to find it. When you navigate back to your Facebook home page, you’ll be treated to a heap o’ swashbuckling lingo!

Note:    If you make the change, only to find out that you’re really a land lubber, you can easily return to your original language settings; however, the landmarks to get there may look a little different. Click Settins > Tongue, and set Yer Native Tongue to English. Wuss.

Other sites speak pirate, most notably Google (which also speaks Klingon, Elmer Fudd, and Pig Swedish, by the way). Where else have you seen fun and goofy settings like this? Sound off, you salty sea dogs!

– Greg