Shiver my timbers - wikipedia Shiver my timbers This article is about the phrase. For the Tom Waits song, see The Heart of Saturday Night. Pray, Sir, is this the way to Stretchit ? `` Shiver my top - sails, my Lass, if I know a better way. '' `` Shiver me timbers '' ( or `` shiver my timbers '' in Standard English ) 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, which are the wooden support frames of a sailing ship. In heavy seas, ships would be lifted up and pounded down so hard as to `` shiver '' the timbers, startling the sailors. Such an exclamation was meant to convey a feeling of fear and awe, similar to, `` Well, blow me down ! '', or, `` May God strike me alive and well ''. 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 ). Can also be used as an expression of being `` cold to the bone ''. Contents 1 History 1.1 Pirate stereotypes 2 In popular culture 3 References History Although the Oxford English Dictionary says the expression `` shiver my timbers '' probably first appeared in a published work by Frederick Marryat called Jacob Faithful ( 1835 ), the phrase actually appeared in print as early as 1795, in a serial publication called `` Tomahawk, or Censor General '', which gives an `` extract of a new MS tragedy called ' Opposition '. '' In the words of the `` old sailor '' : `` Peace ? Shiver my timbers ! what a noise ye make -- ye seem to be fonder of peace than ye be of quiet. ''... `` Lather me ! -- Shiver my timbers. if so be he comes athwart me -- I 'll soon lower his topsails for him -- Here 's King George and old England for ever ! '' The phrase appears in a news article : August 23, 1832 The Times from London, Page 2 showing that the phrase was in use at the time. `` yarn about the Emp'ror 0 Rushy and we a ' i2 Taiaxera ; and shiver my timbers if I ah... '' The Argus Newspaper Archive : November 10, 1839 - Page 9 records the use in the news event as : `` As for nine French men - of - war are laying along side us jist now, and overhauling our rigging and tactics, splinter my timbers into shivers if I do n't think they are all buccaneers... '' would indicate the meaning of `` shivers '' as the breaking into wedges, small pieces or slivers. Alternatively the word `` slivers '' itself ( meaning a small, thin, narrow piece of something cut or split off a larger piece, which also defines a `` splinter '' ), may be the word `` shivers '' expresses. The exact phrase is used earlier on the same page `` Here 's a breeze in a bumboat ! shiver my timbers and top - lights, what will our Majesty 's loblolly - boys say... ''. While the exact meaning may be different, the use was still that of an exclamation. The expression is a derivative of actual 18th century nautical slang, when the phrase `` timbers ! '' or `` my timbers ! '' meant an exclamation ( cf. `` my goodness ! '' ) as can be seen in Poor Jack, a song from 1789 by Charles Dibdin. The opening of the phrase, ' shiver my... ', also predates Jacob Faithful with the following lines from John O'Keeffe 's 1791 comic play Wild Oats an earlier example : Harry : I say it 's false. John : False ! Shiver my hulk, Mr. Buckskin, if you wore a lion 's skin I 'd curry you for this. Pirate stereotypes `` Shiver my timbers '' was most famously popularized by the archetypal pirate Long John Silver in Robert Louis Stevenson 's Treasure Island ( 1883 ). Silver used the phrase seven times, as well as variations such as `` shiver my sides '', `` shiver my soul '' and `` shake up your timbers ''. Another pirate, Israel Hands, also uses the phrase at one point. Marryat and Stevenson both wrote grammatically correct Victorian fiction, even when their characters were pirates. The use of `` me '' instead of `` my '', which is common to many British regional accents, has appeared in popular culture such as with Popeye ; in fact, one of his earliest cartoons from 1934 is entitled Shiver Me Timbers ! The phrase was also commonly used in Arthur Ransome 's Swallows and Amazons books, where it was said at least once in almost every book, most commonly by `` Amazon Pirate '' Nancy Blackett. In popular culture `` Shiver me timbers '' and `` blow me down '' are commonly said by Popeye. The opening number of the children 's film Muppet Treasure Island is entitled `` Shiver My Timbers. '' Several of the variants used in the original book are present in the chorus, including `` shiver my soul, '' `` shiver my bones, '' `` shiver my sides, '' and `` shiver my sails. '' In the Canadian CGI - animated action - adventure cartoon series ReBoot, the software pirate captain Gavin Capacitor uses the pirate catchphrase mutation `` Shiver me templates ! ''. In the Monk episode `` Mr. Monk is On the Air '', Steven Weber 's radio jockey character says a variation on the exclamation ( `` jiggle me timbers '' ) on the air as his new catchphrase and this is revealed to be an important plot device in the episode. Tom Waits ' 1974 album The Heart of Saturday Night includes his song by this name. References Jump up ^ `` Shiver ''. Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 1989. c. shiver my timbers : a mock oath attributed in comic fiction to sailors. 1835 MARRYAT J. Faithful ix, I wo n't thrash you Tom. Shiver my timbers if I do. access - date = requires url = ( help ) Jump up ^ Tomahawk, ( November 6, 1795 ), p. 37. Jump up ^ https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/32896680 Jump up ^ url = https://newspaperarchive.com/uk/middlesex/london/argus-london-middlesex/1839/11-10/page-9 The Argus Newspaper Archive : November 10, 1839 - Page 9 Jump up ^ `` Timber ''. Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 1989. c. Naut. slang, in exclamations, as my timbers ! shiver my timbers ! ( see SHIVER v. ). 1789 DIBDIN Song, Poor Jack ii, My timbers ! what lingo he 'd coil and belay. access - date = requires url = ( help ) Look up shiver my timbers in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Robert Louis Stevenson 's Treasure Island Characters Billy Bones Captain Alexander Smollett Captain Flint Ben Gunn Israel Hands Jim Hawkins Dr. Livesey Long John Silver Squire Trelawney Films Treasure Island ( 1918 ) Treasure Island ( 1920 ) Treasure Island ( 1934 ) The Secret of Treasure Island ( 1938 ) Treasure Island ( 1950 ) Long John Silver ( 1954 ) Return to Treasure Island ( 1954 ) Animal Treasure Island ( 1971 ) Treasure Island ( 1972, live - action ) Treasure Island ( 1972, animated ) The Treasure Planet ( 1982 ) Treasure Island ( 1982 ) Treasure Island ( 1985 ) Treasure Island ( 1987 ) Treasure Island ( 1988 ) Treasure Island ( 1990 ) Muppet Treasure Island ( 1996 ) Treasure Island ( 1999 ) Treasure Planet ( 2002 ) Pirates of Treasure Island ( 2006 ) Hawkins and Silver ( TBA ) Television The Adventures of Long John Silver ( 1958 ) Treasure Island ( 1977 ) Treasure Island ( 1978 ) Return to Treasure Island ( 1986 ) Treasure Island in Outer Space ( 1987 ) The Legends of Treasure Island ( 1993 ) Treasure Island ( 2012 ) Black Sails ( 2014 ) Video games Pirate Adventure ( 1978 ) Treasure Island ( 1984 ) Muppet Treasure Island ( 1996 ) Treasure Planet : Battle at Procyon ( 2002 ) Destination : Treasure Island ( 2006 ) Other adaptations Pieces of Eight ( musical ) Godspeed ( novel ) The Resurrection Casket ( novel ) Related Black Spot Legend of the Cybermen Silver `` Shiver my timbers '' `` Dead Man 's Chest '' Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shiver_my_timbers&oldid=806915271 '' Categories : Piracy in fiction English phrases Catchphrases Hidden categories : Pages using citations with accessdate and no URL Talk Contents About Wikipedia Simple English Edit links This page was last edited on 24 October 2017, at 22 : 45 ( UTC ). 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Question: where does the phrase shiver me timbers come from
Answer: as early as 1795, in a serial publication called "Tomahawk, or Censor General"