what makes one tick

What makes one function characteristically, what motivates one, as in We've never figured out what makes these chess players tick. This expression alludes to tick in the sense of "function as an operating mechanism, such as a clock." [Colloquial; first half of 1900s]

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
TamÁS	TAW-mahsh	Hungarian
Baxter	BAKS-tər	English
Annick	-	Breton
Roman	rah-MAHN (Russian), RAW-mahn (Polish)	Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Ukrainian, Slovene, Croatian, German
Ransu	RAHN-soo	Finnish
Feliciana	fe-lee-THYAH-nah (Spanish), fe-lee-SYAH-nah (Latin American Spanish), fay-lee-CHYAH-nah (Italian)	Spanish, Italian, Late Roman