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- single word requests - What do you call the sound of a bell? - English . . .
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?
- idioms - For whom the bell tolls - origin of ask not instead of . . .
"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 diminishes me,
- etymology - What caused bell peppers to be called capsicums in some . . .
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 (Probably because she associated pepper with the spice ) What is the historical etymological explanation for this divergence in names between countries?
- colloquialisms - Words are not sparrows; once they have flown they . . .
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 some influence on the judicial decision It may be only a subtle or even subconscious influence, but a bell cannot be unrung Adverse claimants have at least some reason to fear By 1948 it is in the Utah bar
- How to cite an author who does not capltalize her name if you are . . .
If you are writing a paper and citing works by an author researcher who does not capitalize her name, how do you begin a sentence using the author's name?
- single word requests - Interjection for the sound of a bell - English . . .
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 still an interjection? What I meant by the question is that I wasn't looking for a noun ("a ringing") or verb ("to ring") The noun, verb and interjection (?) could all be said to be onomatopoetic, as far as I
- Where does it comes from pull the other leg, its got bells on?
What is leg and bells mean in the phrase "pull the other one, it's got bells on"
- A figure of speech to illustrate the irreversibility of an action
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 history here: Unring the Bell (impossibility of taking back a statement or action)
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