<P> `` 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 '' . </P>
<P> `` 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 '' . </P>
where did the phrase shiver me timbers come from
where did the phrase shiver me timbers come from
real nautical slang
real nautical slang