In this mini episode, you will learn the interesting phrase “like clockwork."
Episode 417 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the interesting phrase “like clockwork.” Send your questions about English and your comments and suggestions to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hello! This is Sasa, from China. And you are listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 417 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, I am going to teach you an interesting and useful expression. That expression is “like clockwork.” Like clockwork. That’s spelled l-i-k-e c-l-o-c-k-w-o-r-k. Like clockwork.
Before I tell you what this expression means and how we use it, let me ask you this: What does clockwork mean? Clockwork means all of the little parts inside a clock, all of the parts that make the clock work.
And this expression started with the idea of old-fashioned clocks, not digital clocks and not electric clocks, but those old-fashioned clocks with all of those very small, very precise parts inside. All of them working together perfectly to make the clock work.
When you think of that, you might have an easier time understanding and remembering what this phrase means.
Because “like clockwork” means “happening in a regular or predictable way.” It describes things that happen in a predictable, consistent way, especially things that happen in a very predictable and exact way.
Let me give you a couple of examples of situations where we can use the phrase “like clockwork” to describe this kind of thing.
Let’s say there is a student, and he is not a very good student. In fact, he does not like to study. He does not like to work hard. He really doesn’t like to do anything. Every time students need to make some kind of big presentation in front of the class, this student is missing. This student is home sick, or he later says that he was sick.
We could say, “Every time students have to give presentations in class, like clockwork, this student is absent. This student is not at school. It happens like clockwork.” In other words, it is very predictable. It happens every time. We can easily predict when this student will be out of school because it happens every time he would need to make a big presentation in class.
We could also say something like this:
“Scientists can easily predict when eclipses will happen. Eclipses happen like clockwork.” Eclipses happen like clockwork. In other words, eclipses happen in a very regular and consistent and predictable way. They happen in a very exact way. They happen in a way that is as predictable and exact as a clock.
A clock moves in a very predictable and exact way, and that’s why we can describe something like an eclipse as happening like clockwork. It happens in a very regular and predictable way.
And that is “like clockwork,” an interesting and useful phrase that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 417 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have any questions about English, or if you have comments for me, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Sasa recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with a new episode. And until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. I’ll see you soon. Goodbye!