the.com/clink
the sound two glasses make when joy becomes audible.
means A short, sharp ringing sound made when two hard objects (like glasses, coins, or chains) touch — or, as slang, a prison.
from An imitative word, born straight from the noise itself: 'clink' is what your ear hears when metal or glass kisses metal or glass, the same sound-making instinct behind 'clank' and 'click.' The prison sense is its own odd offshoot — 'the Clink' was the name of a notorious jail in Southwark, London, and the name spread to mean any lockup; whether the jail took its name from the clink of its keys and chains is a tidy popular guess, but the true source of that place-name is uncertain.
- origin myth
- clinking once meant sharing wine to prove neither was poisoned
- slang
- means jail, from the prison on Clink Street
- sound type
- a sharp, high collision of hard surfaces
- toast rule
- superstition demands eye contact during the clink
clink prison london — famous medieval jail on the south bank of the thames, operating 1144-1780
clink san francisco — alcatraz federal penitentiary, nicknamed 'the clink', held al capone 1934-1963