Derived from "Shawshank" (i.e. "The Shawshank Redemption"), shankshawing is the process of slowly chipping away at a person until the ultimate goal is achieved.

Said "goal" is usually the love/affection of a person who is already in a relationship. First you become their friend, their shoulder to lean on when times get tough with their partner, the person they share their secrets with - then when they suddenly become single, what do you know? You are now their #1 option. BAM - shankshaw'd.

- I think I want to date Billy.
- But he already has a girlfriend.
- Don't even worry about it...I'll start shankshawing now, and in about 6 months, he'll be mine.

shankshaw by PaulTheShark June 4, 2011

Related Words

Shvanks • Shanksgiving • shanksta • Shankstardd • shankster • shfanks • shanks and bigfoot • shanks pony • shanksy • shanks'd it

Red-Haired Shanks

Red-Haired Shanks is a character from the popular and ongoing manga series and anime, One Piece. He plays a significant role in the life of the protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy, as he is what fuels Luffy's dream of becoming the Pirate King.

This man is the coolest character to ever grace the One Piece universe, and I need to see more of him.

Person #1: Bruh, I adore Aokiji. Coolest guy ever.

Person #2: Are you kidding? Have you even READ/WATCHED One Piece? Red-Haired Shanks world domination, my dude.

Person #1: Dude, Aokiji can literally turn to ice. He's made of ice. He can make ice. He is the physical manifestation of "cool".

Person #2: bruh

Red-Haired Shanks by REDHARIEDSHANKSAH September 8, 2020

The shanks are flying

When a gang of yutes(roadman) are about to have a fight and bring a knifes

Roadman:yo get over here u little yute the shanks are flying today
Roadman2:my drilla i have my shank and its ready to fly

The shanks are flying by Amyyyyy696969696 May 23, 2021

Shmanks

Thank You for those bored with the stereotypical abreviation thnx or ty, or tnx. A non carbon copy word that is actually interesting.

hey i submitted it to urban dictionary.. shmanks

Shmanks by i finally got a name February 28, 2010

shanks pony

Walking to anywhere. Walking somewhere when you have no cash for the bus, or no car

Hey George, how are you getting there, on the bus? No, taking shanks pony. I got no money.

shanks pony by big fart in a hole April 30, 2008

aww shanks

a more endearing way of saying “thanks”. commonly used between homies when they do something sweet for each other. usually accompanied by this emoji “🥺”

homie #1: “i finished that project for geo tomorrow”

homie #2: “aww shanks🥺”

aww shanks by alleg :) May 3, 2020

Whale

In sales terms, a whale is a prospect that is significantly larger than an organization’s average customer.

Whales are large and extremely difficult to close. Due to their immense size, they are highly sought-after.

A whale is typically identified at first by a whale hunter on the sales team, but often requires cross-discipline participation in order to close; this includes assistance from operations, engineering, creative, client success, and business development teams.

"Shit...the sales director chewed me out on the sales call this morning. He's totally pissed that I have nothing in my pipeline. I've been focused on this one whale for so long that I haven't had time to prospect for normal-sized deals."

Whale by FQ_GFY February 3, 2020

Word of the Day on September 21, 2026

Concrete cowboy

A guy who thinks he's a country kinda guy, but in reality lives a comfortable city / suburban life.

Eugene: Look at that dude in the cowboy hat!
Todd: He's just a concrete cowboy.

Concrete cowboy by EugeneJohnson42000 March 16, 2024

Word of the Day on September 20, 2026

hobo loko

any hard liquor that is cheap & potent.. eg. relska, popov, potters, evan williams, kamchatka, fireball, rumpleminze, southern comfort, everclear

hey let's get a drink of that?

go ahead
*takes drink* ugh wtf is that?

everclear & bepsi
fucking hobo loko eeessshh

hobo loko by d i z k o 2 0 8 September 14, 2026

Word of the Day on September 19, 2026

God Shot

A chance happening with profound meaning, an unexpected blessing, a "sign".

Dr. Drew on Celebrity Rehab said "All of a sudden what had been just another Hollywood proposal became for him an unexpected blessing, an opportunity for growth. In drug recovery language, that's called a "God shot."

God Shot by Imogen1564 February 25, 2011

Word of the Day on September 18, 2026

city chicken

A food native to Pittsburgh/Western Pennsylvania in which cubes of pork and/or veal are put on a short, wooden skewer, breaded, then baked and/or fried.

I've heard that city chicken originated during the Great Depression, when folks didn't have enough money to buy full cuts of meat, so they assembled meat scraps on a wooden skewer, creating a make-shift drumstick. Hence the name.

Are yinz havin' city chicken for dinner?

city chicken by TRF August 31, 2006

Word of the Day on September 17, 2026

Is that cake?

Another way to say is this fake? Like the show real or cake

“Slayyyter just announced another album last night”
“No way, is that cake?”
“Yeah whoops this isn’t real”

Is that cake? by Sexyyred September 15, 2026

Word of the Day on September 16, 2026