# Origin of the phrase "saved by the bell" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 27, 2005, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-saved-by-the-bell/314483 "2005-07-27T23:10:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SpartanDC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@SpartanDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpartanDC)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-saved-by-the-bell/314483/1 "2005-07-27T23:10:45Z")
A friend is telling me the phrase “saved by the bell” comes from several centuries ago when people would often fall into comas and be mistaken for dead, and sometimes buried alive. To prevent this, a rope connected to a bell would be put in the coffin with them, and if they woke up, they would ring the bell to alert the graveyard workers that they were still alive. Thus, they were saved by the bell. Now, being the fan of Occam’s Razor that I am, I find it _far_ more likely the term comes from boxing, when a fighter getting beaten up would be able to escape the beating when the bell rang to end the round. We’ve both been showing eachother cites for our claims, and nothing’s been settled. So, I was hoping someone on here could settle it for us definitively. Anyone wanna take a stab at this one? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-saved-by-the-bell/314483/2 "2005-07-27T23:13:55Z")
I always thought it was a boxing reference. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-saved-by-the-bell/314483/3 "2005-07-27T23:15:06Z")
No cite. No authority. Common sense. Boxing. ---
**Author:** ![Stringer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Stringer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringer)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-saved-by-the-bell/314483/4 "2005-07-27T23:17:20Z")
[This site](http://plateaupress.com.au/wfw/savedbyt.htm) confirms boxing as being the origin citing “Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins” by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997). ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-saved-by-the-bell/314483/5 "2005-07-27T23:21:11Z")
I always thought it was **boxing** too. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-saved-by-the-bell/314483/6 "2005-07-27T23:37:20Z")
I believe the expression does not refer merely to a boxer who is doing badly at the end of a round, but to one who has been knocked down less than ten seconds from the bell. He will be allowed to continue to the next round. I seem to recall that some fights are declared as having “no saving by the bell,” i.e., the ten count will continue even after the bell, and if the fighter doesn’t get up in time, the fight is over. ---
**Author:** ![Ottoerotic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ottoerotic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ottoerotic)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-saved-by-the-bell/314483/7 "2005-07-28T00:08:05Z")
/nitpick Actually these days its more common to hear that “the fighter can only be saved by the bell in the last round.” Although I seem to vaugely recall Cecil mentioning something about the whole buried alive thing, but I’m too lazy to search. ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-saved-by-the-bell/314483/8 "2005-07-28T00:54:24Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > I seem to recall that some fights are declared as having “no saving by the bell,” i.e., the ten count will continue even after the bell, and if the fighter doesn’t get up in time, the fight is over. In boxing, the ref if he feels the health of a fighter is in danger has the authority to declare the fight over. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-saved-by-the-bell/314483/9 "2005-07-28T08:53:47Z")
> [@SNenc](#): > > A friend is telling me the phrase “saved by the bell” comes from several centuries ago when people would often fall into comas and be mistaken for dead, and sometimes buried alive. To prevent this, a rope connected to a bell would be put in the coffin with them, and if they woke up, they would ring the bell to alert the graveyard workers that they were still alive. Thus, they were saved by the bell. People really did set things like this up, because of fear of being buried alive. I don’t know of any cases where it actually worked though, so it would be quite odd for an idiom to be based upon it. Conclusion: Boxing. Good luck trying to convince your friend of this. ---
**Author:** ![Fortean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/96bed5/32.png) [@Fortean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fortean)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-phrase-saved-by-the-bell/314483/10 "2005-07-28T10:58:58Z")
Brandish this snopes at him: [http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/1500.htm](http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/1500.htm)