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- idioms - For whom the bell tolls - origin of ask not instead of . . .
HAGSTRUM: I was rather amused to read that after Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls came out with its quotation from John Donne's Devotions people came to the libraries and wanted the complete works of John Donne Here was one book which influenced another much in the same manner as a movie will influence the sale of the book
- single word requests - What do you call the sound of a bell? - English . . .
The sound of a hand held brass bell, to me, is "ding-a-ling " "Tinkle" would apply at best to a very small bell (and at worst is slang for urinate as I commented above), and "brrring" would apply to the repeated hammering on a bell such as one used to hear telephones or school bells make "Bling" is slang for gaudy jewellery!
- etymology - What is the origin of rings a bell? - English Language . . .
In a series of experiments, Pavlov then tried to figure out how these phenomena were linked 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, at the mere sound of the bell, they responded by drooling
- single word requests - Interjection for the sound of a bell - English . . .
bell – the sound that a bell makes when it rings bong – a long deep sound that a bell makes chime – a ringing sound made by a bell, or by a clock with a bell inside it ding – the short sound that a bell makes ding-dong – the sound that a bell makes jingle – the sound that small metal objects make when they hit each other
- etymology - What caused bell peppers to be called capsicums in some . . .
1707 H Sloane Voy Islands I 241 Bell Pepper The fruit is large somewhat shaped like a bell ("pepper, n " OED Online Oxford University Press, June 2016 Web 24 August 2016 Sense 3 ) Capsicum, on the other hand, is first attested as a botanical term for the plant in 1664, and as a term for the plant's fruit in 1725 ("capsicum, n "
- 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)
- 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
- Obscene yourself (literally) in Hemingways For Whom The Bell Tolls
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 "obscenity" or similar For example (emphasis added): “My transmission is smashed,” the driver, who was bent over by the rear of his truck, said “Obscene your transmission Go
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