What does “tick” mean in this sentence?












4
















Let me show you what makes life at this resort tick.




It's an introductory video that shows the behind the scenes of a resort. All the definitions I found from dictionary.cambridge.org don't fit in this context. What does "tick" mean in this context?










share|improve this question





























    4
















    Let me show you what makes life at this resort tick.




    It's an introductory video that shows the behind the scenes of a resort. All the definitions I found from dictionary.cambridge.org don't fit in this context. What does "tick" mean in this context?










    share|improve this question



























      4












      4








      4









      Let me show you what makes life at this resort tick.




      It's an introductory video that shows the behind the scenes of a resort. All the definitions I found from dictionary.cambridge.org don't fit in this context. What does "tick" mean in this context?










      share|improve this question

















      Let me show you what makes life at this resort tick.




      It's an introductory video that shows the behind the scenes of a resort. All the definitions I found from dictionary.cambridge.org don't fit in this context. What does "tick" mean in this context?







      meaning






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      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited 5 hours ago







      jay

















      asked 5 hours ago









      jayjay

      44418




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          2 Answers
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          9














          This is an extension of the onomatopoeic meaning of tick, as in the sound a clock makes: tick-tock. What makes someone or something tick is what makes them function, except this is generally even more metaphorical than just the tick being a metaphor. If you "know what makes Jeff tick", then you know how his mind works, how he will act, how to provoke him into doing what you want him to do, how to do things he will appreciate, and so on.



          Essentially, it's a set phrase - "what makes ... tick". It refers to a deep and fundamental knowledge about how "..." works.



          There are variations that go in different directions, of course. As fred2 noted in their answer, to "really make something tick" can be to make it work better, faster, more effectively. But to find out what "really makes someone/something tick" can be that, or can be a suggestion that a person has put on a false front and you're going to try to see "behind the mask", so to speak.



          If something is "ticking over nicely", that's most directly a reference to an engine or other machine ticking over, which means running on idle - not doing anything in particular, but running. It's unclear exactly how we got that expression, whether it also comes from the noise of a clock, but I suspect so. Using that reference means something is functioning and continuing to function without any particular intervention. If it is "just about ticking over" it is barely continuing to function.






          share|improve this answer





















          • 2





            I have a personal theory that it's a metaphor from watches and timepieces-- "What makes a watch tick?" meaning, how does it work, internally, which you can't see? What are the pieces that work together making the ticking sound?

            – user151841
            2 hours ago











          • That's the metaphor I was alluding to, yes.

            – SamBC
            2 hours ago



















          3














          It is a common idiom, but checking Cambridge Dictionary, I can appreciate why you couldn't find it.



          There are various idiomatic phrasal verbs that this usage is related to.




          Things are ticking along.



          The business is ticking over.




          Both arise from the metaphor of an engine idling - 'ticking over', but not doing anything much. It also relates to the ticking of a clock as a metaphor for being 'alive', 'working', 'healthy'.



          So




          To really make something tick.




          Has a a more positive sense of 'vibrant', 'lively'.



          So the meaning of your sentence is:




          Let me show you what makes life a this resort so lively.







          share|improve this answer
























          • I'd agree more if the quote in the question had the word really. Hard to tell exactly what sense is meant by the quote without more context, I suppose.

            – SamBC
            4 hours ago






          • 1





            Also, adding some of this interpretation to my answer, will attribute.

            – SamBC
            4 hours ago











          • I think you're probably right that the writer intended the sense of what makes it lively. But to my mind it's a bad choice of metaphor, given that we normally only use tick to mean function smoothly and quietly, at some low "standby" level (tick over) OR function as an "integrated whole", with a comprehensible mechanism of interlocking gears (what makes him tick) - where in the second sense the gear cogs metaphorically represent something like "motivations".

            – FumbleFingers
            4 hours ago











          • ...he might have been better advised to use metaphoric hum or similar. Perhaps he was getting mixed up with tickety-boo (origin uncertain, but probably not related to tickling clocks).

            – FumbleFingers
            4 hours ago













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          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

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          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

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          active

          oldest

          votes






          active

          oldest

          votes









          9














          This is an extension of the onomatopoeic meaning of tick, as in the sound a clock makes: tick-tock. What makes someone or something tick is what makes them function, except this is generally even more metaphorical than just the tick being a metaphor. If you "know what makes Jeff tick", then you know how his mind works, how he will act, how to provoke him into doing what you want him to do, how to do things he will appreciate, and so on.



          Essentially, it's a set phrase - "what makes ... tick". It refers to a deep and fundamental knowledge about how "..." works.



          There are variations that go in different directions, of course. As fred2 noted in their answer, to "really make something tick" can be to make it work better, faster, more effectively. But to find out what "really makes someone/something tick" can be that, or can be a suggestion that a person has put on a false front and you're going to try to see "behind the mask", so to speak.



          If something is "ticking over nicely", that's most directly a reference to an engine or other machine ticking over, which means running on idle - not doing anything in particular, but running. It's unclear exactly how we got that expression, whether it also comes from the noise of a clock, but I suspect so. Using that reference means something is functioning and continuing to function without any particular intervention. If it is "just about ticking over" it is barely continuing to function.






          share|improve this answer





















          • 2





            I have a personal theory that it's a metaphor from watches and timepieces-- "What makes a watch tick?" meaning, how does it work, internally, which you can't see? What are the pieces that work together making the ticking sound?

            – user151841
            2 hours ago











          • That's the metaphor I was alluding to, yes.

            – SamBC
            2 hours ago
















          9














          This is an extension of the onomatopoeic meaning of tick, as in the sound a clock makes: tick-tock. What makes someone or something tick is what makes them function, except this is generally even more metaphorical than just the tick being a metaphor. If you "know what makes Jeff tick", then you know how his mind works, how he will act, how to provoke him into doing what you want him to do, how to do things he will appreciate, and so on.



          Essentially, it's a set phrase - "what makes ... tick". It refers to a deep and fundamental knowledge about how "..." works.



          There are variations that go in different directions, of course. As fred2 noted in their answer, to "really make something tick" can be to make it work better, faster, more effectively. But to find out what "really makes someone/something tick" can be that, or can be a suggestion that a person has put on a false front and you're going to try to see "behind the mask", so to speak.



          If something is "ticking over nicely", that's most directly a reference to an engine or other machine ticking over, which means running on idle - not doing anything in particular, but running. It's unclear exactly how we got that expression, whether it also comes from the noise of a clock, but I suspect so. Using that reference means something is functioning and continuing to function without any particular intervention. If it is "just about ticking over" it is barely continuing to function.






          share|improve this answer





















          • 2





            I have a personal theory that it's a metaphor from watches and timepieces-- "What makes a watch tick?" meaning, how does it work, internally, which you can't see? What are the pieces that work together making the ticking sound?

            – user151841
            2 hours ago











          • That's the metaphor I was alluding to, yes.

            – SamBC
            2 hours ago














          9












          9








          9







          This is an extension of the onomatopoeic meaning of tick, as in the sound a clock makes: tick-tock. What makes someone or something tick is what makes them function, except this is generally even more metaphorical than just the tick being a metaphor. If you "know what makes Jeff tick", then you know how his mind works, how he will act, how to provoke him into doing what you want him to do, how to do things he will appreciate, and so on.



          Essentially, it's a set phrase - "what makes ... tick". It refers to a deep and fundamental knowledge about how "..." works.



          There are variations that go in different directions, of course. As fred2 noted in their answer, to "really make something tick" can be to make it work better, faster, more effectively. But to find out what "really makes someone/something tick" can be that, or can be a suggestion that a person has put on a false front and you're going to try to see "behind the mask", so to speak.



          If something is "ticking over nicely", that's most directly a reference to an engine or other machine ticking over, which means running on idle - not doing anything in particular, but running. It's unclear exactly how we got that expression, whether it also comes from the noise of a clock, but I suspect so. Using that reference means something is functioning and continuing to function without any particular intervention. If it is "just about ticking over" it is barely continuing to function.






          share|improve this answer















          This is an extension of the onomatopoeic meaning of tick, as in the sound a clock makes: tick-tock. What makes someone or something tick is what makes them function, except this is generally even more metaphorical than just the tick being a metaphor. If you "know what makes Jeff tick", then you know how his mind works, how he will act, how to provoke him into doing what you want him to do, how to do things he will appreciate, and so on.



          Essentially, it's a set phrase - "what makes ... tick". It refers to a deep and fundamental knowledge about how "..." works.



          There are variations that go in different directions, of course. As fred2 noted in their answer, to "really make something tick" can be to make it work better, faster, more effectively. But to find out what "really makes someone/something tick" can be that, or can be a suggestion that a person has put on a false front and you're going to try to see "behind the mask", so to speak.



          If something is "ticking over nicely", that's most directly a reference to an engine or other machine ticking over, which means running on idle - not doing anything in particular, but running. It's unclear exactly how we got that expression, whether it also comes from the noise of a clock, but I suspect so. Using that reference means something is functioning and continuing to function without any particular intervention. If it is "just about ticking over" it is barely continuing to function.







          share|improve this answer














          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited 4 hours ago

























          answered 4 hours ago









          SamBCSamBC

          13.2k1749




          13.2k1749








          • 2





            I have a personal theory that it's a metaphor from watches and timepieces-- "What makes a watch tick?" meaning, how does it work, internally, which you can't see? What are the pieces that work together making the ticking sound?

            – user151841
            2 hours ago











          • That's the metaphor I was alluding to, yes.

            – SamBC
            2 hours ago














          • 2





            I have a personal theory that it's a metaphor from watches and timepieces-- "What makes a watch tick?" meaning, how does it work, internally, which you can't see? What are the pieces that work together making the ticking sound?

            – user151841
            2 hours ago











          • That's the metaphor I was alluding to, yes.

            – SamBC
            2 hours ago








          2




          2





          I have a personal theory that it's a metaphor from watches and timepieces-- "What makes a watch tick?" meaning, how does it work, internally, which you can't see? What are the pieces that work together making the ticking sound?

          – user151841
          2 hours ago





          I have a personal theory that it's a metaphor from watches and timepieces-- "What makes a watch tick?" meaning, how does it work, internally, which you can't see? What are the pieces that work together making the ticking sound?

          – user151841
          2 hours ago













          That's the metaphor I was alluding to, yes.

          – SamBC
          2 hours ago





          That's the metaphor I was alluding to, yes.

          – SamBC
          2 hours ago













          3














          It is a common idiom, but checking Cambridge Dictionary, I can appreciate why you couldn't find it.



          There are various idiomatic phrasal verbs that this usage is related to.




          Things are ticking along.



          The business is ticking over.




          Both arise from the metaphor of an engine idling - 'ticking over', but not doing anything much. It also relates to the ticking of a clock as a metaphor for being 'alive', 'working', 'healthy'.



          So




          To really make something tick.




          Has a a more positive sense of 'vibrant', 'lively'.



          So the meaning of your sentence is:




          Let me show you what makes life a this resort so lively.







          share|improve this answer
























          • I'd agree more if the quote in the question had the word really. Hard to tell exactly what sense is meant by the quote without more context, I suppose.

            – SamBC
            4 hours ago






          • 1





            Also, adding some of this interpretation to my answer, will attribute.

            – SamBC
            4 hours ago











          • I think you're probably right that the writer intended the sense of what makes it lively. But to my mind it's a bad choice of metaphor, given that we normally only use tick to mean function smoothly and quietly, at some low "standby" level (tick over) OR function as an "integrated whole", with a comprehensible mechanism of interlocking gears (what makes him tick) - where in the second sense the gear cogs metaphorically represent something like "motivations".

            – FumbleFingers
            4 hours ago











          • ...he might have been better advised to use metaphoric hum or similar. Perhaps he was getting mixed up with tickety-boo (origin uncertain, but probably not related to tickling clocks).

            – FumbleFingers
            4 hours ago


















          3














          It is a common idiom, but checking Cambridge Dictionary, I can appreciate why you couldn't find it.



          There are various idiomatic phrasal verbs that this usage is related to.




          Things are ticking along.



          The business is ticking over.




          Both arise from the metaphor of an engine idling - 'ticking over', but not doing anything much. It also relates to the ticking of a clock as a metaphor for being 'alive', 'working', 'healthy'.



          So




          To really make something tick.




          Has a a more positive sense of 'vibrant', 'lively'.



          So the meaning of your sentence is:




          Let me show you what makes life a this resort so lively.







          share|improve this answer
























          • I'd agree more if the quote in the question had the word really. Hard to tell exactly what sense is meant by the quote without more context, I suppose.

            – SamBC
            4 hours ago






          • 1





            Also, adding some of this interpretation to my answer, will attribute.

            – SamBC
            4 hours ago











          • I think you're probably right that the writer intended the sense of what makes it lively. But to my mind it's a bad choice of metaphor, given that we normally only use tick to mean function smoothly and quietly, at some low "standby" level (tick over) OR function as an "integrated whole", with a comprehensible mechanism of interlocking gears (what makes him tick) - where in the second sense the gear cogs metaphorically represent something like "motivations".

            – FumbleFingers
            4 hours ago











          • ...he might have been better advised to use metaphoric hum or similar. Perhaps he was getting mixed up with tickety-boo (origin uncertain, but probably not related to tickling clocks).

            – FumbleFingers
            4 hours ago
















          3












          3








          3







          It is a common idiom, but checking Cambridge Dictionary, I can appreciate why you couldn't find it.



          There are various idiomatic phrasal verbs that this usage is related to.




          Things are ticking along.



          The business is ticking over.




          Both arise from the metaphor of an engine idling - 'ticking over', but not doing anything much. It also relates to the ticking of a clock as a metaphor for being 'alive', 'working', 'healthy'.



          So




          To really make something tick.




          Has a a more positive sense of 'vibrant', 'lively'.



          So the meaning of your sentence is:




          Let me show you what makes life a this resort so lively.







          share|improve this answer













          It is a common idiom, but checking Cambridge Dictionary, I can appreciate why you couldn't find it.



          There are various idiomatic phrasal verbs that this usage is related to.




          Things are ticking along.



          The business is ticking over.




          Both arise from the metaphor of an engine idling - 'ticking over', but not doing anything much. It also relates to the ticking of a clock as a metaphor for being 'alive', 'working', 'healthy'.



          So




          To really make something tick.




          Has a a more positive sense of 'vibrant', 'lively'.



          So the meaning of your sentence is:




          Let me show you what makes life a this resort so lively.








          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered 4 hours ago









          fred2fred2

          3,260722




          3,260722













          • I'd agree more if the quote in the question had the word really. Hard to tell exactly what sense is meant by the quote without more context, I suppose.

            – SamBC
            4 hours ago






          • 1





            Also, adding some of this interpretation to my answer, will attribute.

            – SamBC
            4 hours ago











          • I think you're probably right that the writer intended the sense of what makes it lively. But to my mind it's a bad choice of metaphor, given that we normally only use tick to mean function smoothly and quietly, at some low "standby" level (tick over) OR function as an "integrated whole", with a comprehensible mechanism of interlocking gears (what makes him tick) - where in the second sense the gear cogs metaphorically represent something like "motivations".

            – FumbleFingers
            4 hours ago











          • ...he might have been better advised to use metaphoric hum or similar. Perhaps he was getting mixed up with tickety-boo (origin uncertain, but probably not related to tickling clocks).

            – FumbleFingers
            4 hours ago





















          • I'd agree more if the quote in the question had the word really. Hard to tell exactly what sense is meant by the quote without more context, I suppose.

            – SamBC
            4 hours ago






          • 1





            Also, adding some of this interpretation to my answer, will attribute.

            – SamBC
            4 hours ago











          • I think you're probably right that the writer intended the sense of what makes it lively. But to my mind it's a bad choice of metaphor, given that we normally only use tick to mean function smoothly and quietly, at some low "standby" level (tick over) OR function as an "integrated whole", with a comprehensible mechanism of interlocking gears (what makes him tick) - where in the second sense the gear cogs metaphorically represent something like "motivations".

            – FumbleFingers
            4 hours ago











          • ...he might have been better advised to use metaphoric hum or similar. Perhaps he was getting mixed up with tickety-boo (origin uncertain, but probably not related to tickling clocks).

            – FumbleFingers
            4 hours ago



















          I'd agree more if the quote in the question had the word really. Hard to tell exactly what sense is meant by the quote without more context, I suppose.

          – SamBC
          4 hours ago





          I'd agree more if the quote in the question had the word really. Hard to tell exactly what sense is meant by the quote without more context, I suppose.

          – SamBC
          4 hours ago




          1




          1





          Also, adding some of this interpretation to my answer, will attribute.

          – SamBC
          4 hours ago





          Also, adding some of this interpretation to my answer, will attribute.

          – SamBC
          4 hours ago













          I think you're probably right that the writer intended the sense of what makes it lively. But to my mind it's a bad choice of metaphor, given that we normally only use tick to mean function smoothly and quietly, at some low "standby" level (tick over) OR function as an "integrated whole", with a comprehensible mechanism of interlocking gears (what makes him tick) - where in the second sense the gear cogs metaphorically represent something like "motivations".

          – FumbleFingers
          4 hours ago





          I think you're probably right that the writer intended the sense of what makes it lively. But to my mind it's a bad choice of metaphor, given that we normally only use tick to mean function smoothly and quietly, at some low "standby" level (tick over) OR function as an "integrated whole", with a comprehensible mechanism of interlocking gears (what makes him tick) - where in the second sense the gear cogs metaphorically represent something like "motivations".

          – FumbleFingers
          4 hours ago













          ...he might have been better advised to use metaphoric hum or similar. Perhaps he was getting mixed up with tickety-boo (origin uncertain, but probably not related to tickling clocks).

          – FumbleFingers
          4 hours ago







          ...he might have been better advised to use metaphoric hum or similar. Perhaps he was getting mixed up with tickety-boo (origin uncertain, but probably not related to tickling clocks).

          – FumbleFingers
          4 hours ago




















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