pirates
Will Turner was referred to as "the whelp" by Hector Barbossa and Jack Sparrow.

Will Turner was referred to as "the whelp" by Hector Barbossa and Jack Sparrow.

"I suppose in exchange, you want me not to kill the whelp."
"No, no, no. Not at all. By all means, kill the whelp. Just not yet."
―Hector Barbossa and Jack Sparrow[src]

Whelp may refer to the young offspring of a canid, especially of a dog (pup) or a wolf (cub), the young of a bear or similar mammal. It can also be a derogatory term for an insolent youth; a mere child; often used as a disparaging form of address for a boy or young man.

History

"Cut that out!"
"Then fight like a man, not like a sorcerer."
"Fine, I can beat you any way you want, you whelp!"
―Silverback and Jack Sparrow[src]

During young Jack Sparrow's adventures as a teenage stowaway, prior to the mutiny on the Fleur de la Mort, the pirates Left-Foot Louis and Silverback climbed out of the hatch, "fighting" as usual, and Louis bellowed that Silverback was a "yellow-bellied, scrawny whelp of a man!" with enthusiasm. During the mutiny, as the Louis's crew, Captain Laura Smith, and the crew of the Barnacle broke out in fighting aboard the Fleur, Jack told Silverback to "fight like a man, not like a sorcerer," Silverback promised to beat him any way he wanted, calling him a "whelp" as he drew his sword and the two dove at each other madly.[1] Several years later, when Edward Teague realized Jack was romantically interested in Esmeralda, the granddaughter of Don Rafael, the Pirate Lord of the Caribbean, Teague called Jack a misbegotten whelp and ordered him to steer clear of her.[2] Following a career as a clean-cut merchant seaman under the employ of the East India Trading Company, Jack Sparrow was called "Teague's whelp" by Davy Jones, the cursed captain of the Flying Dutchman, prior to their deal to raise the Black Pearl, formerly the EITC merchant vessel Wicked Wench, from the depths.[3]

About thirteen years later, Will Turner was referred to as "the whelp" on several occasions. Prior to the battle at Isla de Muerta, the cursed pirate Captain Hector Barbossa nodded at Will, when he supposed that Jack Sparrow wanted the cursed pirate to not kill "the whelp" in exchange for his help, but Jack casually said that Barbossa could kill the whelp, but just not at that moment.[4] During the battle between the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman, Sparrow repeated "Think like the whelp" with his hallucinations in the Dutchman's brig.[5]

Behind the scenes

The word "whelp" was first used in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.[4]

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, when Elizabeth Swann asks Barbossa if he heard anything from Will as they walk toward Sao Feng's bath house in Singapore, to which the pirate captain replies "The whelp is more than capable of taking care of himself."[6] Barbossa instead says "I trust young Turner to acquire the charts" in the final cut of the film.[5] The original line from the script was retained in the junior novelization.[7]

Appearances

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Jack Sparrow: Silver
  2. ↑ The Price of Freedom, Chapter Six: The Wicked Wench
  3. ↑ The Price of Freedom, Chapter Nineteen: Freedom's Price
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
  6. ↑ Wordplayer.com: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio
  7. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (junior novelization), p. 22