Ring a bell

Thursday, 2022-10-13, Word of the Day: Ring a bell
If you can’t remember, it’s probably not important anyway.

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Phrase: Ring a bell

We meet so many people during our lifetimes and do so much that sometimes a face, name or even a smell will ring a bell, but you can’t remember where you saw or heard it before.


When something rings a bell, you have a vague memory but can’t remember it clearly. 


How often have you met someone while you were out and about when their face rang a few bells, you knew you had met them somewhere, but you just could not put your finger on where?

Well, it happens to me all the time.

No, it has nothing to do with age.

I read somewhere that the brain can recognize what information is essential and what is unnecessary.

The brain automatically forgets information such as faces, names or other excessive inputs.

I comfort myself by thinking that if I meet someone, their name rings a bell, but I can’t remember why it’s because that person is not essential to me. Ha, ha, ha!

Of course, I never tell them that.

It’s just a way for me to justify a bad memory.

The sad part is when they seem to remember me and begin talking about how long it has been since we went out for a drink or something else together.

I suppose you think I’m a terrible person.

I don’t believe that.

As I said, the brain tends to delete information that it deems unimportant automatically.

So, if you come across someone or something while you are out and about, but they don’t ring a bell for you, don’t worry.

Just smile, and be content.

They are probably not important anyway. 


Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test

This post is understandable by someone with at least a 7th-grade education (age 12).   

On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 73.   

The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100. 



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