shanks' mare | Idiomator

Meaning: (US,idiomatic)One's ownlegsused forwalking; to "travelby shanks' mare" or "ride[on] shanks' mare" is towalkto your destination.1923, Harris Dickson, “The Proof”, inThe Red Book Magazine, volume41, number 6:“Well! Well! Here's Aunt Cannie. Waiting for your car?”“No suh, Mr. Henry.Shank's mareis 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 toShanks' 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 withShank's mare.2003.John O'Flaherty,Rafferty, p. 77[2]:The last thing we'd want to be seen doing...is usingshanks mare, even though the day is holding up well.

Examples:

EN: We're going a piedi, on foot, shanks' mare.
ES: ¿Y para qué queremos un billete de tren? Vamos "a piedi", a pie, a pata.
EN: Unless it's the custom at Fort Apache to provide transportation for incoming second lieutenants and leave a commanding officer to travel shanks' mare.
ES: A no ser que Fort Apache proporcione transporte... a tenientes novatos... y deje a los comandantes ir en el coche de S. Fernando.
EN: I shall go on shanks' mare, Mrs Faulk.
ES: Iré caminando, señora Faulk.

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