XPost: rec.arts.drwho, alt.usage.english   
   From: doctor@doctor.nl2k.ab.ca   
      
   In article <10iti1u$st1i$1@dont-email.me>,   
   Daniel70   wrote:   
   >On 29/12/2025 3:43 pm, Ross Clark wrote:   
   >> On 29/12/2025 10:32 a.m., Your Name wrote:   
   >>> On 2025-12-28 15:00:29 +0000, J. J. Lodder said:   
   >>>> Daniel70  wrote:   
   >>>>> On 28/12/2025 7:41 am, Sam Plusnet wrote:   
   >>>>>> On 27/12/2025 18:50, athel.cb@gmail.com wrote:   
   >>>>>>> lar3ryca  posted:   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>>    
   >>>>>   
   >>>>>>>> And they meet at -40, which happens occasionally around   
   >>>>>>>> here.   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> Most of France is starting each day at -2°C or so at   
   >>>>>>> present (which you probably wouldn't call cold in Regina),   
   >>>>>>> but not here: in Marseilles we do our shivering at 8°C or   
   >>>>>>> so.   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> One consequence of the cold is that I learned a new word   
   >>>>>>> today: greloter means shiver.   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> Does it also have the other meaning of "shiver" - to break   
   >>>>>> into small fragments as in "shiver me timbers"?   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> Might that be because the Water would get into the wood and, on   
   >>>>> a cold day, the water might freeze and, as ice takes up greater   
   >>>>> volumn than water, the 'timber' would crack .... disabling the   
   >>>>> ship??   
   >>>>   
   >>>> That is not the correct explanation,   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Jan   
   >>>   
   >>> True. The *correct* explanation is that it is simply a phrase made   
   >>> up by a writer back around 1795 (not the later Robert Loius   
   >>> Stevenson in 1883 that some places claim), and there's no proof   
   >>> that any real sailors / pirates ever actually said it. It is based   
   >>> it on the definition of "shiver" meaning "to split in two".  :-)   
   >>>   
   >>   
   >> What's your 1795 source? OED agrees that it's "a mock oath attributed   
   >> in comic fiction to sailors", rather than a real one; but their only   
   >>  citation is from Marryat's _Jacob Faithful_ (1834).   
   >>   
   > From https://allthatsinteresting.com/shiver-me-timbers   
   >   
   >Quote   
   >What Does “Shiver Me Timbers” Mean?   
   >   
   >According to the Oxford English Dictionary, one early definition of   
   >“shiver” is “to break or split into small fragments or splinters.” And   
   >“timber” is “wood used for the building of houses, ships, etc.” In the   
   >context of ships specifically, the “timbers” were the wooden support   
   >frames of the vessel.   
   >   
   >When the phrase is put together, “shiver me timbers” suggests a ship   
   >breaking into pieces, perhaps due to the force of a strong wave or a   
   >cannonball. But aside from the dictionary definition, the expression has   
   >several less literal interpretations.   
   >End Quote   
      
   Thank you.   
      
   >--   
   >Daniel70   
      
      
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