AboutTed Nesbitt Expertise I have an interest in the meanings of words and phrases, as well as how and when they became part of the English language. I enjoy
researching idioms, colloquialisms, dialects, and obscurities of
all kinds. I prefer short questions on a particular subject, and
I will not accept lengthy research projects or term papers. NOTE: ALLEXPERTS CLAIMS THAT I TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LATIN AND FROM LATIN TO ENGLISH. I DO NOT. ALLEXPERTS REFUSES TO DELETE THE LATIN-TO-ENGLISH SERVICE -- ONE THAT I DO NOT PROVIDE.
TRUST ME ON THIS: ALLEXPERTS IS WRONG. I DO NOT TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LANGUAGE. LOOK FOR A LANGUAGE EXPERT INSTEAD. ETYMOLOGY AND TRANSLATING SERVICES ARE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT. ALLEXPERTS SHOULD KNOW THAT. ALLEXPERTS DOES NOT KNOW THAT. I HAVE TRIED FOR MANY YEARS TO GET THEM TO CHANGE. THEY WILL NOT. SORRY, BUT I DO NOT TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LATIN.
Experience I am the bibliographic instruction and reference librarian at a public
college. My master's thesis concerns William Faulkner's tragic novels. I formerly taught advanced placement English at two schools in the Philadelphia area.
I have been a member of the grammar and writing section of Allexperts
for more than a year.
Education/Credentials Masters degrees in English, philosophy, and library science.
Question Why do pirates say shiver me timbers and what is the meaning of the saying.
Answer John:
I've had this same question several times, and I was able to find the answer I sent to someone quite a while ago. Nothing has changed, since I wrote it.
Unfortunately, the leading authorities on these phrases cannot find a truly definitive answer about how the phrase originated. Robert Louis Stevenson, however, DID make it famous, but it was most likely around long before he used it in "Treasure Island."
Here is my answer:
The phrase means "shock" or "sudden surprise," as the wooden masts or timbers of a ship would quake when the ship was hit by a cannonball, or if the ship suddenly ran aground or hit an unsuspecting object -- think "whale" in "Moby Dick" or the great white shark in "Jaws."
The "Phrase Finder" folk at Sheffield Hallam University -- the leading authority of phrase history -- and the standard reference book "Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable" do not have a specific origin for the phrase. One suspects that an unknown pirate first used it, and it just caught on. The shivering or quaking referred to the wooden boards or the masts of the old ships, when they were suddenly hit by a cannonball or some other powerful force/object.
Here's an interesting site for pirate lingo -- have your speakers turned on:
The phrase "Shiver my timbers" occurs three times in Stevenson's "Treasure Island" (We probably remember the 'shiver ME timbers' from the classic film version of the story. Arrrrrrr, Matey.) As an expression of astonishment by the pirate(s), it seems to mean "wasn't that surprising?" or "to my surprise." Just speculating now, but the timbers (beams) of a wooden sailing ship would be shivered (set to vibrating suddenly) by a cannonball attack. There's also an older meaning of shivered that's equivalent to splintered.
For other phrases, you can consult "Brewer's Dictionary" at this site:
