(something) rings a bell (with one)

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(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?" Wait, "aliens in airplanes" does ring a bell with me. I think I know what movie you're talking about.

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.”