Bells a' ringin

Served with a new found curiosity, i went hunting for a select duo of English sayings.

The ever so popular "Saved by the bell," has a widespread notion that the phrase is from the 17th century and that it describes people being rescued from being buried alive by using a coffin with a bell attached at the earths surface. The idea being that, if they were buried but later awoke in their 6 foot deep tomb, they could ring the bell and be saved from an unpleasant death. The idea is certainly plausible as the fear of burial alive was and is real.

"Saved by the bell," i feel, goes hand in hand with another popular phrase among english speaking society "the graveyard shift." Popular explanations for the origin of the phrase "graveyard shift" reference the 17th century also . To prevent the problem of the accidental burying of people who were still alive, the story goes, The graveyard attendants, who's job it was to remain vigilant throughout the day and night, worked the graveyard shift. It was their mission to wait for the little bells to ring so they could go in and retrieve the stressed undead.

The notion of anyone being buried alive makes my skin crawl.
Ankylophobic, Automysophobic, and Claustrophobic. cha cha cha!

M