例句-1:He comes in at 7:30 like clockwork. He always gets coffee and a jelly doughnut, then sits and reads his paper. Right at 8:30, he leaves - you can set your watch by him!
Like clockwork说人生活一板一眼地有规律,含义还是好的,但是下一个习惯用语就不同了: clean someone's clock。Clean someone's clock意思是狠狠地揍某人或者把某人打得落花流水。
这个习惯用语五十来年前首先出现在军队内,意思是狠狠揍打某人,或者是用拳头击败某人。有些语言学家认为clean someone's clock来自意思是打垮某人的一个俚语clean up on someone,而在clean someone's clock这个习惯用语里clock是指人的脸,因为在英文里钟面就是face。要是你碰巧在街上看到打群架,你很可能会听到这种恐吓的话: Watch out or I'll clean your clock! 这句话里的clean your clock当然是“把你揍扁了!”
例句-2:Sure, Phil, I know Yale has won six years in a row. But we have a great team at Harvard this year. I tell you, we're going to clean your clock Saturday afternoon!
例句-3:Mollie and I have been married over 25 years and her biological clock is ticking fast. We're not getting younger, so she'll take some time off her job so we can have a baby.