Why Do We Say ‘It’s the Bells That Ring’ at Midnight?

It’s the bells that ring is like saying ‘the clock just turned midnight’, but with a twist! Imagine you’re playing a game where every time something happens, it rings. At midnight, bells go off to say the day has changed. So we say ‘It’s the bells that ring’ as if the bells are doing all the work of telling us what time it is.

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Examples

When you hear the church bell ring, you say ‘It’s the bells that ring’ because you think it’s midnight.
Your mom says ‘It’s the bells that ring’ to tell you it's time for bed at night.
You pretend your toy clock has big bells and say ‘It’s the bells that ring’ when it hits 12.

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Categories: Culture · idioms,language,history