Definition
To be tough; to have endurance; to have the capacity to absorb stress or damage, but still be able to function.
Origins
Derived from the advertising slogan for Timex wrist-watches.
In Context
- "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."