shanks' nag
English
Alternative forms
- shank's nag, shanks-naig, shanks-nag.
Etymology
Traced back to shanks-nag, 1758; The expression -- believed to be Scottish in origin (i.e. shanks-naig 1774), refers to the use of shank to refer to the part of the human leg between the knee and ankle.
Noun
shanks' nag (plural shanks' nags)
- (idiomatic, Scotland, archaic) Transportation by foot. To "take a shanks' nag" means using one's own legs to walk.
- 1774, Robert Fergusson, Poems on Various Subjects:
- He took shanks-naig, but fient may care.
- 1774, Robert Fergusson, Poems on Various Subjects:
Derived terms
- shanks' mare (USA)
- shanks' pony (UK, Australia)
Related terms
- shank-nag (verb)
Translations
walking
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References
- Shanks' mare, by Michael Quinion, World Wide Words, 2002-08-31
- Shanks' mare, Gary Martin, 2007.
- shanks-nag, in A Glossary of the Cleveland Dialect: Explanatory, Derivative, and Critical, by John Christopher Atkinson. J.R. Smith: 1868, p. 442.