Do you wonder sometimes about modern vernacular or phraseology?
Why we "dial" the phone comes to mind. Or ask for "cream" and sugar?
So, when we push a button near the front door and get an electronic tone (or sometimes a little song or clock chime), why do we call pushing that button "ringing the door bell?"
I saw this on the inside of a door recently.
This house was built in 1882. It looks to me to still have the original door!
I don't know if this is original, but I recognize it from my grandmother's house, built 1910 in Washington DC.
It is a door bell!
And that's exactly what it is.
Outside the door bell is this.
It is what rings the door bell!
Turning it cranks a little hammer inside the bell, causing the door bell to ring furiously!
The ring can be heard throughout the house. It is loud!
It sounds like a bell because it is a bell!
Many people probably come to that door and know what this funny little handle is, or wonder what it is, or instinctively know they should turn it and make a sound.
THERE IS NO BUTTON TO PUSH!
No matter what, turning the handle makes for a very antique sound! And it brought back memories for me.
My recommendation: sometimes the olden days had good ideas. And sometimes those ideas still work as well now as they did then.
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