shanks' pony

Definition

One's feet or legs, regarded as a means of transport.

Etymology

Believed to be of Scottish origin, from shanks' nag (shanks-naig, attested 1774).

Example Sentences

• "When we pointed out that we cared nothing, absolutely nothing, for convention, and would go in quest of the gods “on Shanks′ pony,” Anqui utterly mistook our meaning and had a pony in waiting for us when the hour came for leaving! This we dismissed after attempting to make clear our meaning."
• "1989, Charles Hyatt, When Me Was a Boy, Institute of Jamaica Publications, page 43, After all, mos′ everybody had to walk because yuh doan only get to meet people but ‘shanks pony’ was the cheapes′ form of transportation."
• "That was the end of the vehicle track: from then on it was shanks′s pony."

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