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 – What Does ‘Tick’ Mean in This Sentence?
meaning
Related Solutions
I've had a bit of deeper look into this. I found a version of the script (not sure how legal or safe that site is, so venture in at your own risk) and the word track is used three times. Two of those times are not the same as the phrase, so the film gives no previous definition of track to go on.
Initially I thought it might be a term related to the film industry, because Al Pacino is playing a failing/failed actor (Simon Axler). But Simon is a stage actor, not a film star, and the only film reference to track I could find was a "tracking shot" and I couldn't easily turn that into a relevant metaphor.
However, the words "does that track with" do appear in similar situations in various books. A few examples:
- Does that track with what you remember of the situation? "Federal Aviation Administration Operations Related to Safety and Procurement Management"
- How does that track with your reality, Mr. Baines? "A Handful of Kings", Mark Jacobs
- Does that track with your experience? "Powerhouse Presenting", Randy Siegel
The last link there, I think, gives us the best interpretation for what Simon means when he asks "How does that track with you?".
To gain agreement, I ask questions such as:
"Does that make sense?" (my favorite)
"Does that track with your experience?"
"Do you see how this could work for you?"
I think this makes it clear that what Simon is asking his psychiatrist is "does this lesbian flirting with me make sense to you?"
The speaker seems to be confused between 'undermine' (which makes no sense in this context) and 'underestimate' (which makes perfect sense).
It's been noticed by people making comments under the video.
Best 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.