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Word of the Day: Peal
After a wedding, it is common to hear the bells of a church or chapel peal out to announce to the world that two more people have made a lifetime commitment to each other.
Although Japan is not a Christian country, many Japanese couples choose to get married in a chapel.
Of course, it’s not a consecrated chapel.
It’s built more for looks and is used for the couple to take beautiful wedding photos in front of while the bells are ringing.
When we say bells ring, we mean they are making noise.
However, a ring is a generic term with neither a positive nor a negative nuance.
That’s where today’s word comes in.
Peal is the loud ringing of bells and has a positive nuance.
Every time you hear the bells of a church or chapel loudly pealing, remember that it is a joyous occasion for someone somewhere.
Please don’t make the mistake of confusing today’s word with knell, another term used to refer to the sound of bells ringing out.
Although both refer to bells ringing, their meanings are entirely different.
Peal refers to the loud, happy ringing of bells, and knell relates to the slow, solemn ringing of bells to announce a death; hence, we say death knell.
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 74.
The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.
