Mop Head Randy using the phrase.
- "Shiver me timbers."
"Cotton here says you missed a bit." - ―Cotton's Parrot and Joshamee Gibbs
"Shiver my timbers" or "shiver me timbers" is an exclamation in the form of a mock oath attributed to the speech of pirates, usually to express shock, surprise, or annoyance. The phrase is nautical slang as 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". Since on the high seas the ship was the sailors' 'world', it may also be interpreted as an exclamation for "shake my world" as the subject being referred to could be, or may be considered a potentially 'world shaking' event. "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".
Behind the scenes[]
In the Disneyland version of Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean, there's a parrot that says a series of phrases, including "ahoy there," "thar she blows," "Avast there, mateys," "walk the plank," "shiver me timbers," "Yo Ho," "dead men tell no tales," "steady as she goes," and "pieces of eight" to guests riding on boats.[citation needed]
"Shiver My Timbers" is the opening number of the 1996 film Muppet Treasure Island. Several of the variants used in the original book, including "shiver my soul," "shiver my bones," "shiver my sides," and "shiver my sails" are present in the chorus. The song ends with "dead men tell no tales" which a phrase mostly associated with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. The song appeared on the Pirates-themed albums Disney's Ultimate Swashbuckler 10-Song CD Collection and Swashbuckling Sea Songs.[1][2]
Appearances[]
- Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (First appearance)
- The Accidental Pirate!
- Revenge of the Pirates!
- Chain Reaction!
- The Capture of Jack Sparrow!
- The Treasure of Shipwreck Island!
- Going Overboard!
- The Sidekick!
- The Eye of Despair!
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Tides of War
- Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life (Non-canonical appearance)
