(something) rings a bell (with one)
(redirected from it rings a bell with you)(something) rings a bell (with one)
Something seems familiar, reminds one of something, or stimulates an incomplete or indistinct memory. Your description rings a bell, but I don't think I've ever been there myself. A: "Have you ever heard of Steve Robinson?" B: "Yeah, the name rings a bell with me. Is he in accounting?"
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
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.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer
- (something) doesn't ring a bell (with one)
- (one) could use (something)
- (one) doesn't give a rip (about something)
- (one) doesn't give a hoot (about something)
- (I) wouldn't (do something) if I were you
- all righty
- (one) never would have guessed
- a horse of another
- a horse of another color
- a horse of another colour