In reply to:
http://www.comics.com/comics/getfuzzy/archive/getfuzzy-20050520.html
Has anyone ever heard 'shank' used in this sense?
Very, very often. At least here in NZ (probably courtesy of Old Blighty), it's a term used in connection with those who are guests of Her Majesty.
Sharpened toothbrushes are popular shanks, apparently.
Very common usage, I think.
"Shank" used to denote a home-made knife-like weapon has, for me, the feel of those prison movies made in black-and-white in the 1940s with Edward G. Robinson and people like him. I doubt if anybody in the jail beneath my courtroom uses that term anymore ... unless they are as old as I am and perhaps a fan of the gangster films of the forties.
shank+prison: 37.9k googlits www
shank+prison: <1k googlits uk sites only
But yes, it's a commonly understood term in the UK.
Some more prison slang for you:
http://www.vinniejones.co.uk/film/meanslang.php
shank+prison
Guess I just been hanging with the wrong element.
Just taking a stab here, but was that a cutting remark?
i am surprized that shive has come up in this discussion.
i know a shank is any item being used as weapon, but a toothbrush, handle, shapened into a knive is a shank that is also a shive.
a shive is a shank that has a cutting edge.
where as a lump of mashed potatoes, packed into a toe of sock and left to dry can be a mace like weapon, (a shank)
i think shive is more commonly used on TV crime drama's, but shank was more common in 1940'- and 50's crime movies.
i suspect a ball point pen cartridge, made into a handcuff key, while not technically a weapon, would also be a shank.
where as a lump of mashed potatoes, packed into a toe of sock and left to dry can be a mace like weapon, (a shank)
..or a particularly heavy biscuit?
A bar of soap in a sock works wonders too, I understand.