Most people know the phrase “shiver me timbers.” In recent years, this is probably because of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. I tried watching one and I found it extremely boring, but it seems that others love them. Of course, this might only be because of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. Whether people actually like the movies for the movies or the movies for Johnny Depp, I don’t care for either.
The phrase “shiver me timbers” may also be popular because of International Talk Like a Pirate Day. This happens every September 19 th . The holiday officially started in 2002 after Dave Barry wrote a column about the idea even though the idea was born on June 6, 1995 during a racketball game.
The phrase “shiver me timbers” is popular in Louisiana because of the first two weeks in May, or sometimes the last week in April and the first week in May (it covers whenever the first two weekends in May occur) is the festival of Contraband Days. This celebrates that Long John Silver supposedly buried his treasure somewhere in or around Lake Charles. For two weeks pirates take over the city and the mayor walks the plank and goes into the lake!
The first time people may have heard the phrase “shiver me timbers” is from the movie Treasure Island starring Robert Newton. The movie was based on the book Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. Newton had classic pirate lines and one of them was “shiver me timbers.” However, in the book, the phrase is not “shiver me timbers,” but “shiver my timbers.”
It is not certain if the origin of the phrase is from the real nautical world or the fictional nautical world. The phrase “shiver me timbers” may have originated in the literary world. The first time it is seen in print is in 1834. This is in a book called Jacob Faithful by Frederick Marryat. It says, “I won’t thrash you Tom. Shiver my timbers if I do.”
I had always thought the phrase “shiver me timbers” meant something like “shake me to the core” or “rattle my bones.” However, that is not correct. The word “shiver” in this phrase does not mean “shake.” It uses an older meaning of shiver which is “break.”
So, the phrase “shiver me timbers” is an oath expressing annoyance or surprise that means “break my timbers.” This obvious means “break my pieces of wood.” The meaning of the phrase is “if that happens, let my boat break.” Timbers in the phrase “shiver me timbers” means boat as the boats were made of wood.
There is even a sea shanty called “shiver my timbers.” This has been set to a YouTube video of clips from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies .
Sources:
BARRY, D. (n.d.). Arrrrr! Talk like a pirate — or prepare to be boarded – Dave Barry – MiamiHerald.com. MiamiHerald.com – Miami & Ft. Lauderdale News, Weather, Miami Dolphins & More . Retrieved February 8, 2011, from http://www.miamiherald.com/2002/09/08/100129/arrrrr-talk-like-a-pirate-or-prepare.html
International Talk Like A Pirate Day – How It All Began. (n.d.). The Official site for International Talk Like A Pirate Day – September 19 . Retrieved February 8, 2011, from http://www.talklikeapirate.com/about.html
Martin, G. (n.d.). Shiver my timbers. The meanings and origins of sayings and phrases . Retrieved February 8, 2011, from http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/shiver-my-timbers.html
YouTube – Shiver My Timbers: Pirates of the Caribbean . (n.d.). YouTube – Broadcast Yourself. . Retrieved February 8, 2011, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwW1VFQkbkk
