According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a swashbuckler is, 'a swaggering bravo or ruffian; a noisy braggadocio'. We all love a good swashbuckling pirate movie don't we? But where does swashbuckler come from? A 'buckle' was a small shield held in one hand while the other hand wielded the sword. To 'swash' in the sixteenth century was to strike something violently. So, a swashbuckler struck either his own or his opponent's buckle (shield) loudly.
Bring on that swashbuckling movie with torn shirts, tattered sails, rough characters and the lure of the open seas.
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