Hyla, were you in my house last weekend? I used that phrase for the first time in my life while looking sadly at the bathroom on Easter Sunday. My husband was dealing with our homemade beer and there was beer-making equipment everywhere, and beneath all that, the bathroom badly needed cleaning. As I said it, I thought I might quickly wipe up the counter with a wet rag (the lick part) and I promised to get to it later this week (this hasn't happened yet). And at that very moment the meaning of "a lick and a promise" seemed quite obvious to me, anyway.