"blergh" (and "argh")

[Charles Doyle]

I just read an e-mail from a former student (mid-twentyish) in which she used the interjection "blergh!"--which was new to me.

_Urban Dictionary_ registers the word, one of the (three) contributors offering an etymology: "a combination of the words: blah, argh, and ugh."  (How would "ugh" figure in the blend? Perhaps explaining the vowel?)

When, I wonder, (and how) did "argh" become the ubiquitously-recognized staple of Pirate-speak?  The OED records the interjection "argh" (the "-r-" is optional, depending on the rhoticism of the dialect, I suppose), but the entry says nothing about pirates. Have we discussed maricanine "argh"?

Charlie

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