This rings a bell

Posted by SR on December 10, 2004

In Reply to: Run like the clappers posted by abe on December 10, 2004

: "Run like the clappers.." apparently means 'flee in haste'. (I saw it in a Guardian story on volcanic lightning.) But for us old US sorts, what does 'the clappers' mean?

It has to do with the ringing of a bell.
Definition:
clapper - noun [C]
a piece of metal which hangs inside a bell and makes the bell ring when it hits the sides
(from Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
SR

• This rings a bell ESC 10/December/04
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          • Clappers of hell? Hell's bells? any ideas? Keith Rennie 13/December/04