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.

Derived terms

shanks' mare (USA)
shanks' pony (UK, Australia)

Related terms

shank-nag (verb)

Translations

walking

Chinese:
Mandarin: 十一路 (zh)

Icelandic: (to take shanks' nag) fara á tveimur jafnfljótum, ganga (is)
Swedish: apostlahästar (sv) c pl

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.