shank's mare
- noun
- Archaic
- He couldn't afford a taxi, so he relied on shank's mare to get home.
Examples
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After the bus broke down, we finished the journey on shank's mare.
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They explored the city using nothing but shank's mare.
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I had to take shank's mare to the store today.
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We often rely on shank's mare for short trips.
-
After the bus broke down, we finished the journey on shank's mare.
-
He couldn't afford a taxi, so he relied on shank's mare to get home.
-
They explored the city using nothing but shank's mare.
Synonyms
Walking instead of using a car or bus
To walk somewhere instead of using a car or bus
A joking way to say you will walk somewhere instead of taking a car
Walking because no other transport is available
Antonyms
How Energetic
Surface Forms
Morphology
shank's + mare
The expression maps 'shank' (the lower leg) + 'mare' (a horse) metaphorically so that one’s legs serve as a horse for travel, making the meaning 'to go on foot' partially derivable from its parts. Because this relies on a figurative mapping and an archaic/confusing lexical item ('shank') it is not fully predictable for a B1 learner, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Shank's mare may come from a joking image: shank is the lower part of the leg and mare is a horse, so it pictures your legs as your horse. That's why the phrase means 'to travel on foot'.