Dictionary

shanks' mare en · NOUN

Etymology

Believed to be Scottish in origin and derives from shanks' nag (shanks-naig 1774), referring to the use of shank to refer to the part of the human leg between the knee and ankle. One theory cites "shank's mare" derived from a horse-drawn lawn mower, manufactured by Shanks & Company Ltd. (founded 1853) which required that the human operator walk behind the device to guide the horse; however, references to the phrase in Scottish literature pre-date the existence of the Shanks lawn mower.

Meanings

1. (US, countable, idiomatic, uncountable) One's own feet used for walking.
   • Once they take to Shanks' mare, they are all equal. 1942. Transit Journal, McGraw Hill, page 173http://books.google.com/books?id=7GcTAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Shanks'+mare%22&dq=%22Shanks'+mare%22&lr=&ei=4plgR9OWE5KetAOy0sGDBw&pgis=1
   • “Well! Well! Here's Aunt Cannie. Waiting for your car?” “No suh, Mr. Henry. Shank's mare is plenty good fer me. I been ridin' dis ol' mare for more'n a hund'ed years.” 1923, Harris Dickson, “The Proof”, in The Red Book Magazine, volume 41, number 6:
   • The last thing we'd want to be seen doing...is using shanks mare, even though the day is holding up well. 2003. John O'Flaherty, Rafferty, p. 77http://books.google.com/books?id=ZD0F4lbP9EIC&pg=PA77&dq=%22shanks%27+mare%22&lr=&ei=aJpgR-zhHo2msgOt3cHzBg&sig=J03Vw4E0LOtgDggPIwMke5IlAyY
   • A public exhibition of the velocipede [a predecessor of the bicycle] ... will never come into general use in competition with Shank's mare. 1869. The Dubuque Daily Herald, Dubuque, Iowa, May 1869

Forms

Relateds

shanks-nag · shanks' pony · shanks' nag

Translations (12)

sco Tamson's meir (walking) · ga dul ann de shiúl cos (walking) · de Schusters Rappen (walking) · cmn 十一路 (walking) · sv apostlahästar (walking) · ru на свои́х двои́х (walking) · sco shank's meir (walking) · is fara á tveimur jafnfljótum (walking) · ru на Пешка́русе (walking) · is ganga (walking) · ga é a chrágáil (walking) · pl piechota (walking)