Ring a bell
Ring a bell
To encounter something that feels somewhat familiar, though you can't fully recall the details.
To encounter something that feels somewhat familiar, though you can't fully recall the details.The idiom 'ring a bell' means to hear or encounter something that triggers a vague sense of familiarity, but you can't fully remember the specifics. It often refers to names, events, facts, or other pieces of information that reside in a murky part of your memory. For instance, you might hear a new colleague's name and feel that it's familiar, although you can't quite place where you've heard it before. In another scenario, you might read a historical date that seems known, but only jogging more of your memory will bring the complete details back.
The idiom 'ring a bell' means to hear or encounter something that triggers a vague sense of familiarity, but you can't fully remember the specifics. It often refers to names, events, facts, or other pieces of information that reside in a murky part of your memory. For instance, you might hear a new colleague's name and feel that it's familiar, although you can't quite place where you've heard it before. In another scenario, you might read a historical date that seems known, but only jogging more of your memory will bring the complete details back.
Use cases
Her name rings a bell, but I can't remember where I met her.
The title of the movie rings a bell, but I just can't recall the plot.
That joke rings a bell; you must have told it to me before.
Does the name Ava Ryerson ring a bell? She was in our science class last year.
'1984' by George Orwell should ring a bell; we've discussed it in previous classes.
This theory rings a bell from the lecture we had two weeks ago.
The address rings a bell, but I have no idea who lives there now.
His voice rings a bell, as if I've heard it somewhere before.
That statistic rings a bell from the intro to our economics textbook.
The event rings a bell from an old family anecdote, though the details are hazy.
