Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

take a licking and keep on ticking

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.18 in modern English

Syllables: take a lick-ing and -keep- on tick-ing
IPA

53

Scrabble Score

28

Letters

5

Syllables

12

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To be tough; to have endurance; to have the capacity to absorb stress or damage, but still be able to function.

Example Sentences

"How am I supposed to knock these other guys off. My wild card is nothing but defensive. I take a licking and keep on ticking. Big whoop."
"Insurance allows your business to take a licking and keep on ticking."
"The persistence-through-change of Romantic ideologemes — the way they've taken a licking and kept on ticking — is explicable by their extension and saturation — their participation — in ongoing formations of capitalism and disciplinarity."
""That," the first said, "was one hardy son of a bitch. Took a licking but went on ticking. I heard he made it all the way down off the mountain before he snuffed it.""
"But the car amazed him. It kept going. And that too struck him as funny. Takes a licking, keeps on ticking."

Etymology

Derived from the advertising slogan for Timex wrist-watches.

Inflected Forms

takes a licking and keeps on ticking (present, singular) taking a licking and keeping on ticking (participle, present) took a licking and kept on ticking (past) taken a licking and kept on ticking (participle, past)

Questions

What does take a licking and keep on ticking mean?: To be tough; to have endurance; to have the capacity to absorb stress or damage, but still be able to function.
Where does take a licking and keep on ticking come from?: Derived from the advertising slogan for Timex wrist-watches.

How to pronounce take a licking and keep on ticking

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “take a licking and keep on ticking”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “take a licking and keep on ticking”.
Repeat and practice — Say “take a licking and keep on ticking” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.