go by shanks' mare
Meaning: To walk; to travel on foot.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “The last bus had gone, so we went home by shanks' mare.”
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: "Shanks" are the lower legs, joked about as if they were a horse. The phrase, also "shanks' pony" in Britain, is found from the 18th century.
Equivalents in other languages
- French: Prendre le train onze — literally: To take the number eleven train
More idioms — Body & Senses
- have a foot in both camps — To be involved with two opposing sides at once.
- deaf as a post — Completely deaf.
- soaked to the skin — Completely wet.
- have one foot in the grave — To be close to death.
- on one's toes — Alert and ready to react.
- blood will tell — Family background and inherited character eventually show.
More English idioms
- as old as Methuselah — Extremely old.
- like a duck to water — Naturally and easily, as if born to it.
- kill the goose that lays the golden eggs — To destroy a source of profit out of greed.
- with one's tail between one's legs — Humiliated and defeated.
- a workhorse — A person or machine that does a large amount of hard, reliable work.
- ugly as sin — Very ugly.
From our compliments & insults
- Sei un salame — You're a clumsy, dopey softie — said with a smile.
- Eres más corto que las mangas de un chaleco — You're not the sharpest — a bit slow on the uptake.
- Du bist nicht die hellste Kerze auf der Torte — You're a little dim — not the smartest in the room.