shanks' mare

• shanks's mare, shank's mare, shanks mare

The expression -- believed to be Scottish in origin -- 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.

shanks' mare (countable and uncountable, plural shanks' mares)

1. (US, idiomatic) One's own legs used for walking; to "travel by shanks' mare" or "ride [on] shanks' mare" is to walk to your destination.
   • 1923, Harris Dickson, “The Proof”, in The Red Book Magazine, volume 41, number 6:

     “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.”

   • 1942. Transit Journal, McGraw Hill, page 173[1]:

     Once they take to Shanks' mare, they are all equal.

   • 1869. The Dubuque Daily Herald, Dubuque, Iowa, May 1869:

     A public exhibition of the velocipede [a predecessor of the bicycle] ... will never come into general use in competition with Shank's mare.

   • 2003. John O'Flaherty, Rafferty, p. 77[2]:

     The last thing we'd want to be seen doing...is using shanks mare, even though the day is holding up well.

• shanks' nag, shanks-nag, and variants (Scottish)
• shanks' pony and variants (UK, Australian)

• Shanks' mare, by Michael Quinion, World Wide Words, 2002-08-31
• Shanks' mare, Gary Martin, 2007.

• marsh snake, marshsnake