Language of the Blues - Edmonton Blues Society

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For fine examples of second-line drumming, listen to music by:
SH A K E
The Funky Meters
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
The Wild Magnolias
The Neville Brothers
There are disparate meanings for shake, including a rent party (1920s), an erotic
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Shake is also slang for poor-quality
marijuana that is mostly stems and seeds.
The cry
- not
to mention women walking down the street. Guitarist Hubert Sumlin recalled how he and
is the thing. They all look good to you. Although some you gonna find looks better than
we di 332
Songs:
- (Chester Burnett)
- Elmore James
SH A N K, SH A N K IN G
A shank is a knife, especially a handmade one, such as those made by inmates in prisons
from harmless objects like a toothbrush or a comb. A shank can be made by melting the
end of a toothbrush and inserting a razor blade into the plastic while it is still soft, for
example, or by filing the handle of a spoon to a sharp point. A company called Securitas
sells a line of No-Shank products for prisons, including the No-Shank Mirror and the No-
Shank Toothbrush.
In the 1800s, shank referred to the long shaft of the keys available at the time. When
sharpened to a point, the key shank made a nasty weapon, so perhaps this is the origin of
the slang use of shank.
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