shank's pony
- noun
- /ʃæŋks ˈpoʊni/
- Archaic
- With no bus in sight, we set off on shank's pony to the next village.
Examples
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After his bike broke, he had to rely on shank's pony to get to school.
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After missing the bus, we had to rely on shank's pony.
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She often jokes that shank's pony is the cheapest way to travel.
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I decided to take shank's pony to the store today.
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After his bike broke, he had to rely on shank's pony to get to school.
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With no bus in sight, we set off on shank's pony to the next village.
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She often jokes that shank's pony is the cheapest way to travel.
Synonyms
To walk somewhere instead of using a car or bus
Walking instead of using a car or bus
To go somewhere on foot
Walking because no other transport is available
Antonyms
How Energetic
Surface Forms
Morphology
shank's + pony
The phrase evokes a clear metaphor—using one's 'shank' (lower leg) as a 'pony' (mount) to imply travelling on foot—so a learner who knows the constituent words could potentially infer the walking meaning. However, the figurative possessive construction and the colloquial/dated nature of 'shank's pony' make the inference non-obvious for an average B1 learner without prior exposure, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Shank's pony comes from a joking picture of using your own lower leg as a little horse: shank means the lower leg and pony is a small horse, so you are using your legs like a pony to go places. That's why it means 'to travel on foot'.