I find that the phrase "meter for the shadows" is potentially confusing because there are at least two ways that phrase could be used.
a) Take a meter reading for the darkest area of the scene in which you want detail to appear. Your meter will be attempting to convert the thing you point it at to a midtone/18% grey, so opening up two stops from the meter reading will result in that shadow area being portrayed as (very imprecise term follows) dark but not black, with some detail. In Zone System terms, call it Zone 3
b) If you point your meter at the shadows and use the suggested meter reading without modification, then you are in effect overexposing.
Method (a) is, as I understand it, what someone who follows the zone system or has been loosely influenced by the zone system, means by metering for the shadows.
Method (b) will produce a brighter result, which is fine if that's what the photographer intended.
However if a photographer writes "meter for the shadows" and they mean (a) it is possible that a reader will follow method (b) and might not get the results they want.