Meaning
Extremely fast or with great energy. Informal and lively. The verb changes with the action being intensified. Regional use: Chiefly British English.
Origin
The expression is documented in British service slang during the Second World War, with print evidence from 1942. Fast-moving bell clappers offer a natural image, and clapper had earlier mechanical senses, but the exact route into the wartime phrase is not certain. Colourful explanations involving rabbits are later inventions without supporting evidence.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- Go like the clappers
- Run like the clappers
- Work like the clappers
Usage Examples
- We cycled like the clappers to reach the station before the last train.
- The pumps were working like the clappers after the river burst its banks.