Posted by Jonathan Labaree on May 30, 2003 at 13:09:43 from 207.5.234.19 user JLabaree.
In Reply to: Shiver my Timbers posted by Tim Johns on May 30, 2003 at 11:16:36:
I've always taken "shiver my timbers" (or, often, "shiver me timbers", although perhaps Nancy doesn’t say it that way), to be along the lines of "I'll be damned". I'd be less inclined to try to translate it literally than to find a comparable phrase in Chinese. Do the Chinese have a history of pirates or other roughriders whose curses would be recognized by the general public? I suspect that most readers of AR in English would associate “shiver me timbers” with pirates (is that due to Long John Silver?).
But if you are looking for a literal translation, then I would lean toward "timbers" as referring to pieces of a ship (although I like the "timbers" as "legs" connection). Indeed, "timber" is another term for "frame", and is therefore a specific part of the ship.