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  1. etymology - What is the origin of "rings a bell"? - English Language ...

    Mar 14, 2012 · For example, he struck a bell when the dogs were fed. If the bell was sounded in close association with their meal, the dogs learnt to associate the sound of the bell with food. After a while, …

  2. idioms - For whom the bell tolls - origin of "ask not" instead of ...

    Jun 15, 2016 · "Ask not for whom the bell tolls" is a popular cliche. My understanding is that it comes from John Donne's Meditation XVII (1623). But in Donne's poem, the line is any man's death …

  3. nouns - Why is the word "pepper" used for both capsicum (e.g. bell ...

    Oct 30, 2013 · The Online Etymology Dictionary states that Latin piper is the source of the English word (as well as “German Pfeffer, Italian pepe, French poivre, Old Church Slavonic pipru, Lithuanian …

  4. Interjection for the sound of a bell - English Language & Usage Stack ...

    Apr 13, 2017 · The sound of Big Ben over the radio was traditionally rendered "Bong" (and sometimes referred to as the bongs, though I wouldn't recommend that in a normal context). Church bells are …

  5. What do you call the sound of a bell? - English Language & Usage …

    Sep 11, 2011 · If you wanted to describe the sound of a small brass bell that you can hold in your hand (this is an example image of what I mean - what word would you use? Brrring? Bling?

  6. single word requests - Is there a term for the sound of a bicycle bell ...

    Sep 5, 2013 · A bicycle bell is a percussive signaling instrument mounted on a bicycle for warning pedestrians and other cyclists. Wikipedia says that a bicycle bell produces a "ding-ding" sound, and …

  7. What is the origin of the idiom "with all the bells and whistles"?

    Oct 19, 2015 · The Phrase Finder has an interesting assumption: Another possibility is that the expression derived from the work of the English cartoonist and sculptor Rowland Emett. He created …

  8. A figure of speech to illustrate the irreversibility of an action

    May 2, 2016 · Personally I like "You can't unring that bell" as deadrat mentioned above. The phrase refers to the fact that you can't un-hear a bell that has been rung. There's a nice essay about its …

  9. Idiom similar to "saved by the bell" - English Language & Usage Stack ...

    Jul 2, 2023 · Oxford Languages gives two senses for ' [be] saved by the bell: ' escape from a difficult situation narrowly or by an unexpected intervention.' 'or' should of course be 'and/or'. But do you …

  10. etymology - What caused bell peppers to be called capsicums in some ...

    Aug 24, 2016 · A person working in an Indian supermarket was shocked when I told her it's called Bell Pepper in the US, UK, Canada and Ireland. I had to pull out Wikipedia to convince her it was true. …