Licks and spits

What does "licks and spits" mean? It looks like a set phrase but in internet it is impossible to find anything but porn.

Original sentence: "it (old tower) was given a few licks and spits in the 19th and 20th centuries."

I am guessing, but a more common saying is to spit shine boots - http://www.google.co.uz/url?sa=t&rct...43287494,d.bGE

In this context I think that it would mean some minor renovations were done, like washing or painting, or at least something that made it look a little better.

Thanx!

I assume you are a native English speaker despite of the geography. :D

So no set phrase, licks are separate from spits and overall it means "to polish".

I don't recall a set phrase like this. "spruce up" perhaps? What kind of a tower is it?

I'm originally from Near Chicago. Polish is towards boots, but in this context I would agree with Seraph to say it is meant to spruce up or clean, just to make it look better.

Thank you. It is about La Rocca in San Marino. Text is from Lonely Planet.

I assume that the literal reference is to a mother spitting into a handkerchief in order to wipe some dirt from a child's face. Obviously, it's better to use water, but if there's no water, spit is better than nothing.

So, figuratively, it means not only a "minor renovation," but perhaps a "hardly sufficient renovation (that was just slightly better than nothing at all)".

I've never heard the specific phrase "licks and spits," but there's a similar phrase "to give a lick and a promise", as in "The boy gave his hair a lick and a promise." (Meaning: He used spit to smooth his hair down, and "promised" to comb it or wash it properly in the future.)

P.S. In US military slang, at least, "to spit-shine" (in reference to shoes/boots) actually means to give the footwear a very thorough, high-quality, professional-looking, mirror-like polish -- whereas "licks and spits" and "lick and a promise" imply a quick and superficial attempt to make something look better. So they're rather opposite.

Aha, so "to lick" can mean also "to wash with a saliva", not only "to touch with a tongue". That is new to me and makes things more intuitive.