那一聲：叮
這一支就是核心畫面本身，只是分成名詞（聲音）和動詞（碰出聲音）兩種說法。
noun · C1
The short, light ringing sound that hard things such as glass or metal make when they touch each other.
叮噹聲
核心畫面
Think of one small, bright sound: two hard thin things — a glass, a spoon, a key — touch for a moment, ring once, and stop. It is not loud, it is not dull, and it does not carry on. The verb and the noun are the same moment seen from two sides: the verb is the touching, the noun is the sound that comes out of it.
可以想成：兩個又硬又薄的東西輕輕碰一下，「叮」的一聲，短短一下就沒了。玻璃杯、湯匙、鑰匙、硬幣都會這樣響。這個聲音不…更多收起
可以想成：兩個又硬又薄的東西輕輕碰一下，「叮」的一聲，短短一下就沒了。玻璃杯、湯匙、鑰匙、硬幣都會這樣響。這個聲音不大、不悶，也不會拖長，亮亮的一聲就結束。動詞和名詞其實是同一個瞬間的兩面：動詞是「碰」的那個動作，名詞是碰出來的那個聲音。From the word’s history
The word goes back through Middle English clinken to a Germanic root meaning 'to sound'. The source adds that it is perhaps imitative, copying the noise of metal against metal — which fits a word that is over almost as soon as you say it.
這個字經過中古英文 clinken，可以追到日耳曼語裡表示「發出聲響」的字根。來源還說它可能是擬聲字，模仿金屬碰金屬的聲音。這一點跟它的念法很合：/klɪŋk/ 唸出來也是短短亮亮的一下。
Wiktionary entry 'clink' etymology 1 (kaikki extract, source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1096013412:6705): 'From Middle English clinken, from Old English *clincan ... from Proto-Germanic *klinganą (to sound) ... Perhaps of onomatopoeic origin, as metal against metal.'
Three branches
金屬冷卻時裂開的紋
這一支跟聲音之間的關係，手上的來源沒有交代。可以先把它當成同一個「金屬」世界裡的字來記，但不要當成歷史上的來源。
noun · C2
A crack that forms inside a large block of metal while it cools down after being poured into a mould. This is a technical word used by people who work with metal.
（金屬）冷卻裂紋
監獄
這個意思不是從聲音長出來的，而是從一座監獄的名字來的。來源說那座監獄的名字「可能」跟門閂、鎖鏈的聲音有關，但語氣是推測，所以只能當成一個好記的巧合。
noun · C2
Prison. This is an old, informal word, and it is nearly always used with the, in phrases like 'in the clink' or 'end up in the clink'.
（舊、口語）牢裡