BELL NOUN

In the British colloquial phrase give (someone) a bell: to ring (someone) up, to contact by telephone. Etymology: A variation on the theme of give (someone) a ring and give (someone) a tinkle, phrases which go back to the thirties. History and Usage: Although probably in use in spoken British English for some time, this phrase did not start to appear in print until the early eighties. When it did start to spread it was perhaps under the influence of such television series as Only Fools and Horses and Minder (both of which popularized the working-class speech of London's East End). Certainly at about that time it became a popular phrase in the youth press as a less formal way of saying 'ring up'. It is curious that it should have caught on in this way at a time when fewer and fewer telephones actually had bells; during the eighties telephone bells were largely replaced by electronic tones, warbles, chirps, etc. DJ Sammon gave me a bell and wrote me a letter (thorough chap) about his shows. Rave! 6 Mar. 1990, p. 18