where does the phrase "shiver me timbers" come from?

Question

pirate slang

Answer 1

It's a mock oath ascribed to sailors, though it appears to be a comic embellishment of a slightly different oath, my timbers. The latter dates from the late 18th century, while shiver me/my timbers is first recorded in 1835: "I won't thrash you Tom. Shiver my timbers if I do" from Frederick Marryat's Jacob Faithful. Apparently Mr. Marryat invented the phrase with an eye toward avoiding his readers taking offense at stronger words. It's also possible that my timbers was invented, for it first appears in a song: "My timbers! what lingo he’d coil and belay."

A shiver, is literally "a splinter". Hence, when timbers are shivered, they are broken into splinters. A curiously similar word is shake, a fissure that forms in wood while it is still growing.

The phrase shiver my timbers was purportedly adopted later by cricket to refer to the scattering of wickets.

Answer 2

There is no record of actual pirates saying this and I'm not sure when the term became common use in any navy. With that said, it is hard to see a nautical movie from the 1930s-1960s not using the term. A variant of the phrase (shiver my timbers) is used in the classic Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson. Timbers were the largest main support beams for the decks and ribs of a sailing ship. Only violent movements, such as heavy seas or a collision, could cause them to shake (or shiver). This term came to be used for any deed or action that was deeply surprising to a sailor or caused great fear.

Answer 3

Shiver my timbers (sometimes pronounced "shiver me timbers") is an exclamation in the form of a mock oath usually attributed to the speech of pirates in works of fiction. It is employed as a literary device by authors to express shock, surprise or annoyance. The phrase is based on real nautical slang and is a reference to the timbers of a sailing ship in heavy seas, when the ship would be lifted up and pounded down so hard as to "shiver" the timbers, shaking sailors to the bones. Such an exclamation was meant to convey a feeling of fear and awe, similar to, "Well Blow Me Down!", or, "May God Strike Me Dead". Shiver is also reminiscent of the splintering of a ship's timbers in battle - splinter wounds were a common form of battle injury on wooden ships ('shiver' means splinter in some English dialects).

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the expression "shiver my timbers" probably first appeared in a published work by Frederick Marryat called Jacob Faithful (1834). After an argument over grog, Tom's father has his wooden leg [a wooden leg was occasionally called a timber in slang] trapped between some bricks and is unable to move. Tom agrees to assist him on the condition he will not get a beating.

Answer 4

Pirates often had wooden legs, wood comes from trees also known as timber; to "shiver me timbers" means "my legs are shaking".

Answer 5

Frm the sea! Good old times when vessels were wooden, weak ships shivered from speed, from rapid manouevres,from the valour of the masters on board! (the shiver of the timber that the ship was!)

Answer 6

A "shiver" refers to a splinter-like piece of wood. When 2 of those wooden ships fought and one was hit by canon fire, its timbers were shivered.

Answer 7

its from the pirate days....its when the canons of another ship hit the ship that you are on....being lumber,,,,,,,,,gettin the quote of shimmer me timbers.....timbers being wood>>.

Answer 8

From the pirates.

Answer 9

Popeye