shingle, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

shingle n.

[SE shingle, a thin piece of wood used in roofing; also the small sign or nameplate outside an office]

1. (US) usu. in pl., toast; thus shit on a shingle under shit n.

1939		‘Citadel Gloss.’ in AS XIV:1 Feb. 30/2: shingles, n. Toast.
1940		‘C.C.C. Chatter’ in AS XV:2 Apr. 211/2: Common articles of food lose some of their sameness when given figurative names: [...] toast, shingles.
2020		D. Winslow ‘Paradise’ in Broken 229: she could have made dog shit on a shingle and that would have been okay, too.

2. (US) a lawyer.

1958

T. Capote Breakfast at Tiffany’s 87: Iggy’s the best shingle in town.

SE in slang uses

In phrases

take a shingle off (the roof) (v.) (also take a shingle off the house)

(Aus./N.Z./US) to refuse to drink in a public house; usu. in negative as exhortation to drink, i.e. don’t...

1873		Age (Melbourne) 29 Mar. 6/2: If she were to refuse to take something her employer would tell her she was taking a shingle off his roof.
1879		H.R. Mighels Sage Brush Leaves 335: I would not take a shingle off o’ any man’s house: but it is sheer nonsense to hire the band.
1881		A. Bathgate Waitaruna 132: Gilbert [...] thanked [the digger], but declined his offer [of a shout].‘You must not take a shingle off,’ said the landlord addressing him, ‘that won’t do.’ [DNZE].
1888		R.H. Roberts Silver Trout and Other Stories 93: We looked at one another, and, with that unanimous sentiment which inspires all good fishermen, we refused to take a shingle off the roof of that inn.
1900–10		Stephens & O’Brien Materials for a Dict. of Aus. Sl. [unpub. ms.] 141: A person who refuses to drink in a public house is said to take a shingle off the roof.
1949		California Folklore Society Western Folklore VIII 113: to take a shingle off the roof To loaf about a saloon and spend no money.
1954		E.B. McDonald Sam McDonald’s Farm 18: The genial Ducker turned to me, insisting that I join them with a cigar or something else, and added [...], ‘Don’t take a shingle off the roof,’ which in time I learned meant, ‘Don’t deprive the house of a sale.’.
1961		J. Lewicki Life Treasury of Amer. Folklore 138: Among the Pennsylvanan Dutch people of Schuylkill County, ‘Don’t take a shingle off a roof,’ is a statement bartenders make.
1964		Petaluma Argus-Courier (CA) 11 Jan. 4/1: Taking a shingle off the roof means a fellow refuses a drink when someone offers to buy him one.