rings a bell, that
rings a bell, that
That seems familiar or calls something to mind. This expression alludes to a memory being summoned in the same way as the bell of a telephone or door summons one to answer. Dating from the early twentieth century, the term appeared in Nicholas Monsarrat’s This Is a Schoolroom (1939): “The things we talked about . . . rang no bell.”
See also: ring, that
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- bear the bell
- tell (one) what (one) can do with (something)
- tell someone what to do with something
- tell what to do with
- bear away the bell
- chips are down, the
- tree hugger
- answer the bell
- drum (something) into one's head, to
- back number