In this mini episode, you will learn the common idiom “ring a bell.”
Episode 345 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the common idiom “ring a bell.” Send your questions about English and your comments and suggestions to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hi! This is Puyan, from Iran. And you are listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 345 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, I am going to teach you an interesting idiom. And that idiom is “ring a bell,” or “rings a bell.” Ring a bell, rings a bell.
That’s ring: r-i-n-g, or rings: r-i-n-g-s, a, bell: b-e-l-l. Rings a bell, or to ring a bell.
What does it mean when we say that something rings a bell? If something rings a bell, that means that it sounds familiar to you. Or it makes you remember something. Or it helps you remember something. If something rings a bell, it makes you or helps you remember something a little bit. You might not remember all of the details. You might not remember something completely, but you will remember part of something. Or you will remember some of the details of something.
Let me give you an example of a situation where we might use the idiom “ring a bell.”
Let’s say that your friend is telling a story about somebody you used to know a long time ago. Maybe this is somebody from your childhood. Or somebody you went to school with long ago. And when your friend uses this person’s name, he asks you, “Does this ring a bell?”
In other words, your friend is asking, “Does this person’s name ring a bell? Does this person’s name help you remember? Do you know who I’m talking about? Does this sound familiar to you now?”
And you might say, “Well, the name rings a bell, but I don’t think I really remember this person.” The name rings a bell, but I don’t think I really remember this person.
In other words, “When I hear this person’s name, I remember something. It makes me remember something about this person. But I can’t really remember the details. I don’t think I remember everything.”
The name rings a bell. It makes me remember something. It brings something back into my mind. But not everything. I can’t remember everything about this person.
I think this is a very common idiom, and you will often hear people use it when they are saying something like, “Well, I know some of what you’re talking about,” or “Now I remember something about this, but I just cannot remember all the details.”
And that is “ring a bell,” a very common idiom that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 345 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have questions about English, or if you have comments for me, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Puyan recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with a new episode. And until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. I’ll see you soon. Goodbye!