trying to find out a bit more about this expression. so far all I can find is that it might relate to morris dancing(now, there's a CT for ya').
the fops of the court(around 1450) would dance "with bells on" in a effort to woo the ladies...
http://www.indigogroup.co.uk/edge/paganism.htmany other ideas?
ok. found this, too:
http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/bulletin_board/10/messages/541.htmlhmmm...
Ride a cock horse to Banbury cross to see a fine lady upon a fine horse.
Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, she shall have music wherever she goes.
Bells on her toes is a lovely image, especially when you consider how much bells can add to certain kinds of dancing when they're placed on shoes, around the ankles, or up at the knees. Too much of it can get on your nerves, but, for a number here and there, bells are quite charming.
A similar phrase I've heard is 'with brass knobs on', I'm not sure of their origins though.
In reply to:
After this display of male vitality she, in fine fickle, gave her heart to a fool.
*Sigh* Story of my life.....
Dear etaoin: from your first URL, what is a "rood loft"?
During the Civil War and Restoration there is widespread written
evidence of the way new religious and social ideals were being
promulgated. The sometimes brutally aggressive Puritans stripped the
churches of their images, rood lofts and altars - while a smaller,
less-aggressive number, from time to time attempted to restore some of
the ‘popish’ traditions [7].
Edit I got lucky and found a glossary:
Rood - a cross erected at the entry to the chancel. Roods often had
figures of the Virgin Mary on one side and St. John on the other.
Rood Loft - the gallery upon which the rood is supported.
Rood Screen - a screen built beneath the rood loft.
Wish there had been pictures to make it more easily understood.
Thanks, etaoin. I suppose the wide structure with the dozen or so tall columns is the
rood screen, and the smaller structure above it is the rood loft.
This rude heathen know little of the rood.
travelers and farmers, and other folks would often dress up wagons or horses, or even riders with bells -- that has been going on for ages .(sometimes for good or happy reasons, sometimes for sad-- lepers were required to carry a bell, to warn others they were approaching)
but as people migrated westward in US, and crossed Utah, and other western deserts, they often found they had to lighten the load on there wagons.. and decortive elements, like bells, were discarded.
a good trip, or hopes of a good trip, was to arrive at one destination with bells on meaning, things had never gotten so bad, that food and water held out, and you had no need to lighten the load...
so while the bells are old, and common in both UK and many part of europe, to do something with bell's on is an american idiom for doing something, not just successfully, but with ease.
to arrive at one's destination with bells on meaning, things had never gotten so bad, that food and water held out, and you had no need to lighten the load
Folk etymology?
To me, with bells on implies, not success, not ease, but rather eager anticipation.
>To me, with bells on implies, not success, not ease, but rather eager anticipation.
ik ook, mijn vriend.
Helen, where did you find that? it's similar to my second reference url...
something about the phrase makes me think it's older than western expansion...
hmmm...
some historical musuem, and yes, it does have the idea of eagerness to be there, since crossing the plains and continental diveide, to get to california, or oregon, took 6 months.. from the rail head (terminus) of ST Louis. and a lot could go wrong. flooded rivers, broken axles, disease, to get there with bells on, was to have an uneventful trip.
We'll be there in September with bells on.. (not in March , half dead, and worse, like the Donner party, an unspoken thought!)
Helen:
I'd not heard that interpretation before. The phrase to me means arrived on time. It was something my parents said in that context and I never questioned it. But I'm wondering if it meant that a train or ship arrived ringing a bell to announce "Hey, I'm here on time or even ahead of schedule, whereas if they were late they would not advertise their arrival.
Interesting, Ted...
I never heard "with bells on" used in context meaning to be "on time." The only way I've heard it used contextually was to convey the excitement of the moment. "I'll be arriving at 8:00 p.m." "Great! I'll be there with bells on!" Even in that context, I wouldn't have taken the meaning to be "on time" as much as being there with the enthusiasm someone mentioned above. But, I could be wrong. Nothing new.
Helen, your museum story about the bells information is very interesting. I wonder what other sources might back it up?
I wonder what the OED has to say about the phrase? Where's tsuwm?
I have always thought about it as being excited about getting somewhere, maybe even dressed up a bit.