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Learn the meaning and origin of the colloquial phrase 'A lick and a promise', which means a cursory effort. Find out how it is used in an 1848 newspaper article and browse other phrases by alphabet.
Learn the meaning of a lick and a promise, a US or British expression for a quick and careless attempt or a wash. See examples, synonyms, and related words.
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N – A Lick And A Promise by Gillian. E. Shaw This poemstates how, he, along with his wife, worked to wash the clothes and did the domestic chores. It seems to him a lick and promise type of chores as they did everything at the spot. However, by the end of the day when everything was done, it seemed to them that they had removed a big hurdle. Howeve...
Lick and a Promiseby Aerosmith This is lyric sung by Aerosmith narrates the storyof Johnny, who is fascinated by seeing women engaged in love and parties. He lives a typical rock and roll lifestyle without being serious about life. The use of ‘a lick and a promise’ shows that Johnny does all his job carelessly, including his relationship with the l...
From the Story “The Old House at Home” by Joseph Mitchell from The New Yorker This is the classic story of old John McSorley, who owns a bar in New York. The writer, Mitchell, describes the atmosphereof the bar in this paragraph using this phrase in the first line. The use of this phrase shows the hasty work done by McSorley before welcoming his cu...
A Lick and a Promise Idiom Meaning Explained. The oddball phrase “a lick and a promise” is meant to describe someone doing a quick and superficial job with the full intention of coming back to it at a later date to finish it better or more thoroughly.
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Learn the meaning and usage of the phrase \"a lick and a promise\", which means a hasty, careless, or superficial effort. See examples, synonyms, and related expressions from various sources.
Learn the origin and history of the phrase \"lick and a promise\", which means a cursory, superficial and half-hearted effort. It comes from lick meaning a small quantity or a wash, and a promise to do better next time.
A hasty, careless, or superficial effort. I told the intern to give the proofreading a lick and a promise, as we were supposed to have the book out weeks ago. I didn't have time to clean the entire house before my parents arrived, so I just did it with a lick and a promise.
