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Saying "Go like the clappers"

Posted by ESC on January 31, 2003

In Reply to: Saying "Go like the clappers" posted by Ken on January 31, 2003

: : Can any one tell me where the saying "go like the clappers" comes from and what clappers actually are.

From the discussion forum archives under "clappers":

clappers, like the. 'Very fast, or very hard (e.g. "run like the clappers"; or "the clappers of hell").' Gerald Emanuel, letter of March 29, 1945: C. 20; since ca. 1925, much used by the R.A.F. As _clapper_ suggests _bell_, so _hell_ rhymes on _bell_: and _go like hell_ is to run very hard indeed.
From A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English

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