etymology - What is the origin of "rings a bell"? - English …
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. …
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 …
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 …
colloquialisms - Words are not sparrows; once they have flown …
Oct 6, 2017 · The bell, once rung, cannot be unrung. or You cannot unring the bell. Google books traces "cannot be unrung" to 1924: ... what is learned or suspected outside of court may have …
single word requests - Interjection for the sound of a bell - English ...
Apr 13, 2017 · That is an interesting question in its own right - what part of speech is "boom!"? If a human would exclaim it, I believe it would be an interjection. If a bell produces the sound, is it …
single word requests - What do you call the sound of a bell?
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?
consonants - Why is there a double "ll" in "bell"? - English …
Feb 22, 2016 · I am trying to understand some of the idiosyncrasies of the English language. One is the use of double consonants. Why does the word bell have two letter L?
etymology - What caused bell peppers to be called capsicums in …
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 …
nouns - Why is the word "pepper" used for both capsicum (e.g.
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, …
"Obscene yourself" (literally) in Hemingway's "For Whom The Bell …
Nov 1, 2017 · I am reading Hemingway's "For Whom The Bell Tolls" (an edition from 1960). Throughout the book, strong words and obscenities are replaced literally by the term …