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ricky-tick
[rik-ee-tik, -tik]
noun
the mechanical, repetitive style and beat of ragtime or early swing music.
adjective
of or characteristic of such sound or beat.
corny or outmoded.
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of ricky-tick1
Example Sentences
The Ricky-Tick was an influential 1960s rhythm and blues club.
One heyday Ricky-Tick poster advertised a Jimi Hendrix Experience concert with the entry fee of 7 shillings, 6 pence.
Ms. Mehretu’s early, architectonic paintings came at a high-water mark for globalization; her recent art, more anxious and more impressive, features thrumming, multilayered fields of color and ricky-tick calligraphic swoops that seethe with the contemporary volatility of states and climates.
Danny Elfman of Oingo Boingo has contributed an amazingly effective score, encompassing everything from kiddietime ricky-tick to rock to parodies of Bernard Herrmann and Ennio Morricone.
"Loosely strung together on a scheme that plays the younger and older generations off against each other, it sizzles with musical montage, tricky electronics and sleight-of-hand lyrics that range between 1920s ricky-tick and 1960s raga."
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When To Use
Ricky-tick means corny or outdated. It can be used to describe the kinds of things that seem a bit old-fashioned and silly because they come from another era.The similar term rinky-dink can be used to mean the same thing, but it more commonly means inferior, amateurish, or small-time.The term rinky-tink can also be used to mean the same thing as ricky-tick.Both ricky-tick and rinky-tink can also be (and were originally) used to describe the mechanical, repetitive style and beat of ragtime or early swing music. Both terms can also be used as nouns to refer to such music.Ricky-tick is also a military slang term meaning immediately or as quickly as possible. It’s often used in the phrase most ricky-tick, as in Drop what you’re doing most ricky-tick and get down here.Example: His act is a bit ricky-tick, if you ask me, but I guess that’s what his audience wants to see.
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