For Good Says “Clock-Tick” (The Actual Number Is Surprising)

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Wicked: For GoodDespite being one of many unique Ozian phrases in Wicked: For Good, special attention has certainly been paid to “Clock-Tick”. Since the sequel’s debut, social media has latched onto the term, a phrase some movie-goers feel was repeated in the movie to a distracting degree.

The “Clock-Tick” conversation has taken off in part because 2024’s Wicked: Part One hardly used the phrase, making its presence in For Good feel more pronounced. While that’s certainly true, there has since been a growing perspective online that Wicked: For Good features a “clock-tick” moment in nearly every other scene (so we decided to keep track).

Wicked: For Good Uses The Phrase “Clock-Tick” More Than Once

Online posts have suggested that Wicked: For Good drops “clock-tick” non-stop. Memes and various reaction videos have argued that the phrase appears dozens of times, spoken every few minutes, a running joke and commentary across platforms like TikTok and X.

Admittedly, the sequel’s sudden comfort with this specific piece of Ozian vocabulary does make “Clock-Tick” stand out more than others, and it is heard more than once from different characters throughout the movie.

However, it does seem as though “clock-tick” simply became more audibly noticeable due to its far more limited use in Wicked: Part One (having only been heard once at the very beginning from Dulcibear during Elphaba and Nessa’s childhood).

How Many Times Wicked: For Good Uses “Clock-Tick” (And Where)

Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande-Butera) looking at each other in Wicked: For Good

Here’s every time the phrase “clock-tick” is heard by the end of 2025’s Wicked: For Good:

During the Yellow Brick Road opening ceremony, Fiyero and Glinda head off-stage to speak in private, with Glinda telling the crowd that they’d only be “a clock-tick“. This is where Fiyero voices his frustrations about the lies being told about Elphaba, and his desire to find her.
When Boq questions whether Nessa will enact new laws restricting animals’ rights in Munchkinland, she tells Avaric to give them a “clock-tick” to be alone. Avaric was a fellow student at Shiz University in Wicked: Part One, who now looks to have become a member of Nessa’s staff after she became Munchkinland’s new governor following the death of her and Elphaba’s father.
Preparing for her wedding to Fiyero, Glinda is aided by two white bats before telling them to give her a “clock-tick” before she meets with Elphaba on the balcony.
Following Nessa’s death via Dorothy Gale’s flying house, Glinda accuses Elphaba during their Munchkinland confrontation of stealing Fiyero, prompting Elphaba to tell Glinda: “Now you just wait a clock-tick.”

Despite the large online commentary, the actual number of “clock-tick” uses in Wicked: For Good is surprisingly small, as the phrase appears only four times throughout the entire movie. As a result, it seems as though the perception of overuse simply comes from its repetition, combined with the fact that it wasn’t nearly as prevalent in Wicked: Part One.

Nevertheless, the phrase’s relatively limited presence didn’t stop the Wicked fandom from magnifying it into a running gag online, especially once clips and edits spread across social media.

Why The People Of Oz Use “Clock-Tick” (What It’s Referencing)

A closeup shows the dragon on top of The Clock of the Time Dragon from Wicked by Gregory Maguire

In the land of Oz, “clock-tick” exists to give the world of Wicked its own sense of unique culture. It’s simply an alternate way for Ozians to say “just a second” or “give us a moment” in conversation, and it’s arguably a more natural and organic fit next to terms like “thrillified”, “obsessulated”, or “rejoicify”.

Additionally, “clock-tick” holds a deeper connection to the lore of the greater Wicked franchise. “Clock-tick” serves as a nod to the Time Dragon, a major element in Gregory Maguire’s original Wicked novels. The Time Dragon in the Wicked books is a mechanical oracle tied closely to Elphaba’s fate, framing her life as a kind of destined narrative.

While the movies only hint at the Time Dragon’s importance with a few references, the books position the Time Dragon as a key mythic element.

In the original Broadway musical, the Time Dragon Clock physically frames the show above. The Time Dragon is a large mechanical recreation above the proscenium (the part of the stage in front of the curtain), symbolically framing Elphaba’s entire story and suggesting, though its role is far more limited than in the books.

The additional clock iconography and the dragon itself surrounding the stage are meant to convey that the entire stage show is an in-universe puppet show, just like the traveling Time Dragon show in the books.

The term also reinforces the sense that Oz runs on rules apart from the real world. By giving the characters of Wicked their own slang, the films maintain a whimsical tone and emphasize Oz’s cultural identity. “Clock-tick” may sound unusual at first, but that uniqueness is part of the overall worldbuilding charm, just like all the other unique word-uses (“Scandalacious”).

Wicked: For Good is now playing in theaters.