shank's mare

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The Word of the Day for January 16 is: 

shank's mare   \SHANKS-MAIR\   noun
          : one's own legs 

Example sentence:
          We were determined to see the ruins, and when we found out the shuttle bus wasn't running that day, we
traveled by shank's mare.

Did you know?
          "A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!" Many travelers in centuries past would have agreed with King
Richard's famous lines from Shakespeare's _Richard III_ -- when you needed to travel any distance in the
days before automobiles, you definitely wanted a horse. When one wasn't available, you had to rely on your
built-in transportation equipment, your feet and legs. The word "shank" has been used to mean "the lower
leg" since before the 12th century, and "shank's mare" first appeared in writing in the late 1700s.
Another vivid expression connecting people and horses was "horse with ten toes," but that one is now
relegated to history.

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