Just got my latest fix of Word Detective and I loved the question about
“shank of the evening.” I thought you might like to know, since like you
I’ve never heard it in common conversation, that it does (sort of)
appear in the lyrics of an old Rosemary Clooney song, “In the Cool,
Cool, Cool of the Evening”. My mother used to listen to Rosemary Clooney
a lot, hence I’m familiar with the song. The chorus is:
In the cool cool cool of the evening
Tell ’em I’ll be there
In the cool cool cool of the evening
You better save a chair
When the party’s getting a glow on
Singing fills the air
In the shank of the night when the doings are right
You can tell ’em I’ll be there
Thanks for searching out all these fascinating words; I look forward to
each e-mailed column!
Charlie N.:
November 28th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
I’ve heard “shank of the evening” off and on since I was a teen in the 1960’s. It was always used to mean early in the evening when things were just getting good. This seems to fit the meaning in the song “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening.” Rosemary Clooney’s version was the best in my opinion, by the way.
Topi Linkala:
July 3rd, 2011 at 4:07 am
About taking a trip. In finnish we have the expression ‘apostle’s convoyance’ for walking the distance. On the other hand we can ‘take a rubber foot’ when we are too tired to walk and use taxi.
Mel:
June 18th, 2012 at 11:59 am
In Neil Simon’s “Barefoot in the Park”(1963), Corrie, the young newlywed says to her mother, “You can’t leave now, Mother! It’s the shank of the evening!” This is at 2 AM as the party is getting its second wind.
James Griffin:
July 19th, 2012 at 8:54 pm
“Shank of the Evening” can be found spoken in the 1959 movie classic “Compulsion”. The shank of the evening in the film clearly references the “best part” of the evening, as evidenced by the surrounding dialogue in the scene indicating it isn’t late at all.
So this clears up its usual meaning in the late 1950’s era.
Why “shank”? Think “lamb shank”, a prized or most sought after meat portion, i.e., the “best part” of the evening.
Mark S.:
July 10th, 2013 at 4:55 am
Shank of the morning quoted from the story THE CREETURS GO TO THE BARBECUE
UNCLE REMUS and BRER RABBIT By Joel Chandler Harris Copyright, 1906
an’ long to’rds de shank er de mornin’, Brer Rabbit ’ud creep thoo de crack er de fence an’ nibble at um.
D!:
July 30th, 2013 at 9:25 pm
“Shank of the evening” may be found in the W.C. Fields classic, You’re Telling Me! (1934), at 04:32 into the film.
Trying to convinct his wife the time is half-past eight, and not almost midnight, Mr. Fields declares “Ah don’t exaggerate, it’s only shank of the eveing, half-past eight.”
The Shank of the Evening is a phrase used in Tennessee Williams’ classic The Glass Menagerie. A gentleman caller for Laura announces that he must leave early after dinner
and Laura’s mother complains that he is missing the Shank of the Evening.
Bertram Moshier:
April 23rd, 2014 at 1:09 pm
Another media location from the 1950/1960’s is “The Donna Reed Show,” season 2, episode 13, “A Difference of Opinion.” Dr. and Mrs. Stone are at a party and Dr. Stone says it is late and he must be going. The hostess says, he can’t be going yet, as it is the shank of the evening. Another person suggests putting on a pot of coffee and the party continues.
BTW, it is interesting to compare evening life today to how it was in the 1950/1960’s by watching TV series from 50 to 60 years ago. Times, sometimes, they really do change. In this case not just in speech, dress, but also how we spend our evenings. I must say some of it is an absolute improvement and others I’m not so sure about, myself.
Kevin:
April 26th, 2014 at 9:11 pm
The character Bobby says “shank of the evening” during the first part of a two-part “Taxi” episode titled “Memories of Cab 804″
Mary Lynn:
September 14th, 2014 at 6:51 am
I thank you for your submissions from research or from memory. I just remarked to my son that he was arriving home in the shank of the morning.He said that shank thing didn’t make any sense.
Thanks to your sharing I have a leg to stand on. Pun intended!
Jule Shanklin:
May 14th, 2015 at 10:32 am
Thank you for a good exposition of this phrase. I veered off from trying to pry out the various VERB forms of the word to this descriptive form usage of the noun.
Emilio Verdugo:
June 10th, 2015 at 10:31 pm
I use the phrase quite often. I think it cuts both ways: the shank being the lower portion of the leg can refer to the later part of the evening, can mean that the best part is already gone, alternatively, I often use it when it is the later part of the evening, but the ingredients are still present such that the tastiest part of the party can still be ahead. This is largely my own way of constructing the phrase.
Virginia Gaines:
August 12th, 2015 at 8:58 pm
I heard “shank of the evening” from my grandmother regularly when I was a child. I was born in 1937 and grew up 12 miles from St. Louis in a small town in Illinois. It’s interesting to see that the phrase was used by Tennessee Williams in “Glass Menagerie” since of course that play is set in St. Louis.
Grandma certainly meant that it was the central or best part of the evening!
cheryl:
October 31st, 2015 at 1:48 am
I played Corrie. That was my 2nd favorite line. I kinda thought it referred to the best part of the cow. The shank.
Jason M:
December 6th, 2015 at 4:15 pm
One of the WCW pro wrestling commentators in the 80/90s (I think Tony Schiavone) routinely welcomed viewers to “the shanks of the evening.”
Catharine:
December 27th, 2015 at 8:19 pm
My great uncle always said ” the shank of the afternoon” meaning lateish, but not at the very end of the afternoon.
Chris Knight:
February 4th, 2016 at 10:34 am
Just came on your site while looking up the meaning of the word, which appears in the Coen brothers’ new movie, Hail, Caesar! “Still shank of night,” is the phrase, and the context suggests it’s being use to mean “dead of night” or “deep of night.”
Doug Weltz:
May 6th, 2016 at 7:56 pm
“Shank of the evening” was also used on The Andy Griffith Show by Barney Fife in the episode “Three’s Company”.
Leticia:
July 31st, 2016 at 11:58 pm
I heard this in Jane got a gun, with the shank of time.
Steve:
October 28th, 2016 at 6:46 pm
1990’s movie, Like Father Like Son with Dudley Moore and Kirk Cameron, Kirk’s character says ” we still have the Shank of the Evening to do as we choose.”
..please don’t ask me how the hell I remember that
Igor:
February 9th, 2017 at 2:27 am
From “The Young Folks” by J. D. Salinger:
“Oh, but the party’s young!” Edna said. “The shank of the evening!”
“The what?”
“The shank of the evening. I mean it’s so early yet.”
Tim:
January 30th, 2018 at 11:40 am
I do public speaking professionally and every time I’m MC for an event I use that phrase all the time meaning the program is almost over. Because if you look at a butchers chart of a cow or pig the shank is the back leg near the end. So the shank of an evening or program means you’re near the end. Hope this helps.
rep:
February 6th, 2018 at 12:49 am
This strikes me as a case of “glass half empty/full”. That is, the shank is the middle part of three parts(originally the part between the knee and ankle). If you think that things are likely to get better as they go along, then the middle is “only” the shank; things are just getting going. But if you think that things usually go downhill, then, for you, the shank is already too late for the best; it is just the beginning of the end.
Max Minor:
May 26th, 2018 at 1:31 pm
According to the old Hoagy Carmichael song, “shank of the evening” clearly refers to the time when the party is just starting to get going well, NOT the end of the party. This is the same song mentioned above about Rosemary Clooney.
Jake:
March 2nd, 2020 at 2:17 am
Excellent writing and funny brain you have. When I read your description about Mr Ed and leg biting I laughed out loud. No big deal? You’d have to know me to know how major that is! Excellent article. I always used the golf analogy. Shanking in golf is bad. But, I realized from places and people who use “shank” have no F’ing clue what it means. They say it because they heard it said and they think it sounds exotic or some b.s. Like your take. Thanks for the laugh.
Emma Bovary:
April 19th, 2020 at 6:08 pm
In “Hail Caesar” the expression occurs near the beginning. It’s in a satiric “voice-over” narration that’s movie-pompous & overwrought but true. It is very dark outside, not near dawn. The action is certainly the highlight of two characters’ night. (I think) the narration is spoken by Michael Gambon.
Nancy Travis:
May 21st, 2020 at 11:38 am
In the shank shank shank of the evening tell him I’ll be there in the shank shank shank of the evening better save a chair, with the parties getting to go on and singing fills the air in the shank of the night when the moon shining bright tell him I’ll be there
MaryAnn:
November 4th, 2020 at 9:54 pm
Eons ago there was a song “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening”.
Words included: “in the shank of the night, when the doin’s are right, you can tell them I’ll be there.”
I’m an old lady….and I can hum the melody.
TenDreams:
November 8th, 2020 at 4:46 pm
Shank of the evening appears as well in “Apocalypse Now.”
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Mary Funke:
November 1st, 2010 at 7:42 pm
Just got my latest fix of Word Detective and I loved the question about
“shank of the evening.” I thought you might like to know, since like you
I’ve never heard it in common conversation, that it does (sort of)
appear in the lyrics of an old Rosemary Clooney song, “In the Cool,
Cool, Cool of the Evening”. My mother used to listen to Rosemary Clooney
a lot, hence I’m familiar with the song. The chorus is:
In the cool cool cool of the evening
Tell ’em I’ll be there
In the cool cool cool of the evening
You better save a chair
When the party’s getting a glow on
Singing fills the air
In the shank of the night when the doings are right
You can tell ’em I’ll be there
Thanks for searching out all these fascinating words; I look forward to
each e-mailed column!
Charlie N.:
November 28th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
I’ve heard “shank of the evening” off and on since I was a teen in the 1960’s. It was always used to mean early in the evening when things were just getting good. This seems to fit the meaning in the song “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening.” Rosemary Clooney’s version was the best in my opinion, by the way.
Topi Linkala:
July 3rd, 2011 at 4:07 am
About taking a trip. In finnish we have the expression ‘apostle’s convoyance’ for walking the distance. On the other hand we can ‘take a rubber foot’ when we are too tired to walk and use taxi.
Mel:
June 18th, 2012 at 11:59 am
In Neil Simon’s “Barefoot in the Park”(1963), Corrie, the young newlywed says to her mother, “You can’t leave now, Mother! It’s the shank of the evening!” This is at 2 AM as the party is getting its second wind.
James Griffin:
July 19th, 2012 at 8:54 pm
“Shank of the Evening” can be found spoken in the 1959 movie classic “Compulsion”. The shank of the evening in the film clearly references the “best part” of the evening, as evidenced by the surrounding dialogue in the scene indicating it isn’t late at all.
So this clears up its usual meaning in the late 1950’s era.
Why “shank”? Think “lamb shank”, a prized or most sought after meat portion, i.e., the “best part” of the evening.
Mark S.:
July 10th, 2013 at 4:55 am
Shank of the morning quoted from the story THE CREETURS GO TO THE BARBECUE
UNCLE REMUS and BRER RABBIT By Joel Chandler Harris Copyright, 1906
an’ long to’rds de shank er de mornin’, Brer Rabbit ’ud creep thoo de crack er de fence an’ nibble at um.
D!:
July 30th, 2013 at 9:25 pm
“Shank of the evening” may be found in the W.C. Fields classic, You’re Telling Me! (1934), at 04:32 into the film.
Trying to convinct his wife the time is half-past eight, and not almost midnight, Mr. Fields declares “Ah don’t exaggerate, it’s only shank of the eveing, half-past eight.”
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026017/
Mark H.:
January 9th, 2014 at 5:02 pm
The Shank of the Evening is a phrase used in Tennessee Williams’ classic The Glass Menagerie. A gentleman caller for Laura announces that he must leave early after dinner
and Laura’s mother complains that he is missing the Shank of the Evening.
Bertram Moshier:
April 23rd, 2014 at 1:09 pm
Another media location from the 1950/1960’s is “The Donna Reed Show,” season 2, episode 13, “A Difference of Opinion.” Dr. and Mrs. Stone are at a party and Dr. Stone says it is late and he must be going. The hostess says, he can’t be going yet, as it is the shank of the evening. Another person suggests putting on a pot of coffee and the party continues.
BTW, it is interesting to compare evening life today to how it was in the 1950/1960’s by watching TV series from 50 to 60 years ago. Times, sometimes, they really do change. In this case not just in speech, dress, but also how we spend our evenings. I must say some of it is an absolute improvement and others I’m not so sure about, myself.
Kevin:
April 26th, 2014 at 9:11 pm
The character Bobby says “shank of the evening” during the first part of a two-part “Taxi” episode titled “Memories of Cab 804″
Mary Lynn:
September 14th, 2014 at 6:51 am
I thank you for your submissions from research or from memory. I just remarked to my son that he was arriving home in the shank of the morning.He said that shank thing didn’t make any sense.
Thanks to your sharing I have a leg to stand on. Pun intended!
Jule Shanklin:
May 14th, 2015 at 10:32 am
Thank you for a good exposition of this phrase. I veered off from trying to pry out the various VERB forms of the word to this descriptive form usage of the noun.
Emilio Verdugo:
June 10th, 2015 at 10:31 pm
I use the phrase quite often. I think it cuts both ways: the shank being the lower portion of the leg can refer to the later part of the evening, can mean that the best part is already gone, alternatively, I often use it when it is the later part of the evening, but the ingredients are still present such that the tastiest part of the party can still be ahead. This is largely my own way of constructing the phrase.
Virginia Gaines:
August 12th, 2015 at 8:58 pm
I heard “shank of the evening” from my grandmother regularly when I was a child. I was born in 1937 and grew up 12 miles from St. Louis in a small town in Illinois. It’s interesting to see that the phrase was used by Tennessee Williams in “Glass Menagerie” since of course that play is set in St. Louis.
Grandma certainly meant that it was the central or best part of the evening!
cheryl:
October 31st, 2015 at 1:48 am
I played Corrie. That was my 2nd favorite line. I kinda thought it referred to the best part of the cow. The shank.
Jason M:
December 6th, 2015 at 4:15 pm
One of the WCW pro wrestling commentators in the 80/90s (I think Tony Schiavone) routinely welcomed viewers to “the shanks of the evening.”
Catharine:
December 27th, 2015 at 8:19 pm
My great uncle always said ” the shank of the afternoon” meaning lateish, but not at the very end of the afternoon.
Chris Knight:
February 4th, 2016 at 10:34 am
Just came on your site while looking up the meaning of the word, which appears in the Coen brothers’ new movie, Hail, Caesar! “Still shank of night,” is the phrase, and the context suggests it’s being use to mean “dead of night” or “deep of night.”
Doug Weltz:
May 6th, 2016 at 7:56 pm
“Shank of the evening” was also used on The Andy Griffith Show by Barney Fife in the episode “Three’s Company”.
Leticia:
July 31st, 2016 at 11:58 pm
I heard this in Jane got a gun, with the shank of time.
Steve:
October 28th, 2016 at 6:46 pm
1990’s movie, Like Father Like Son with Dudley Moore and Kirk Cameron, Kirk’s character says ” we still have the Shank of the Evening to do as we choose.”
..please don’t ask me how the hell I remember that
Igor:
February 9th, 2017 at 2:27 am
From “The Young Folks” by J. D. Salinger:
“Oh, but the party’s young!” Edna said. “The shank of the evening!”
“The what?”
“The shank of the evening. I mean it’s so early yet.”
Tim:
January 30th, 2018 at 11:40 am
I do public speaking professionally and every time I’m MC for an event I use that phrase all the time meaning the program is almost over. Because if you look at a butchers chart of a cow or pig the shank is the back leg near the end. So the shank of an evening or program means you’re near the end. Hope this helps.
rep:
February 6th, 2018 at 12:49 am
This strikes me as a case of “glass half empty/full”. That is, the shank is the middle part of three parts(originally the part between the knee and ankle). If you think that things are likely to get better as they go along, then the middle is “only” the shank; things are just getting going. But if you think that things usually go downhill, then, for you, the shank is already too late for the best; it is just the beginning of the end.
Max Minor:
May 26th, 2018 at 1:31 pm
According to the old Hoagy Carmichael song, “shank of the evening” clearly refers to the time when the party is just starting to get going well, NOT the end of the party. This is the same song mentioned above about Rosemary Clooney.
Jake:
March 2nd, 2020 at 2:17 am
Excellent writing and funny brain you have. When I read your description about Mr Ed and leg biting I laughed out loud. No big deal? You’d have to know me to know how major that is! Excellent article. I always used the golf analogy. Shanking in golf is bad. But, I realized from places and people who use “shank” have no F’ing clue what it means. They say it because they heard it said and they think it sounds exotic or some b.s. Like your take. Thanks for the laugh.
Emma Bovary:
April 19th, 2020 at 6:08 pm
In “Hail Caesar” the expression occurs near the beginning. It’s in a satiric “voice-over” narration that’s movie-pompous & overwrought but true. It is very dark outside, not near dawn. The action is certainly the highlight of two characters’ night. (I think) the narration is spoken by Michael Gambon.
Nancy Travis:
May 21st, 2020 at 11:38 am
In the shank shank shank of the evening tell him I’ll be there in the shank shank shank of the evening better save a chair, with the parties getting to go on and singing fills the air in the shank of the night when the moon shining bright tell him I’ll be there
MaryAnn:
November 4th, 2020 at 9:54 pm
Eons ago there was a song “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening”.
Words included: “in the shank of the night, when the doin’s are right, you can tell them I’ll be there.”
I’m an old lady….and I can hum the melody.
TenDreams:
November 8th, 2020 at 4:46 pm
Shank of the evening appears as well in “Apocalypse Now.”