shanks' nag
- idiom
- Archaic
:
piernas
- I walked home on my shanks' nag after missing the bus.
Examples
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Rather than waiting for the bus, they decided to use shanks' nag and enjoy a long walk.
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He joked that he'd have to rely on shanks' nag to get home until payday.
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After the car broke down, we finished the last mile on shanks' nag.
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Can you believe we had to rely on our shanks' nag for the whole trip?
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After the car broke down, we finished the last mile on shanks' nag.
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Rather than waiting for the bus, they decided to use shanks' nag and enjoy a long walk.
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I walked home on my shanks' nag after missing the bus.
Synonyms
To walk somewhere instead of using a car or bus
Walking instead of using a car or bus
To go somewhere on foot
A joking way to say you will walk somewhere instead of taking a car
Antonyms
How Energetic
Surface Forms
Morphology
shanks' + nag
This is a humorous, chiefly British metaphor: if a learner knows 'shank(s)' = leg and 'nag' = an old horse, they can plausibly infer 'shanks' nag' as 'one's legs used for walking' (legs compared to a horse). However 'shanks'' is colloquial/archaic and the horse-for-legs metaphor is not a standard compositional pattern, so understanding would likely require some exposure.
Etymology
Shanks' nag may come from the image of your legs as a tired horse: shanks' is an old word for the 'lower leg' and nag means an old 'horse', so you are using your legs like a horse to get somewhere. That's why it means 'walking' or going on foot.