# Why are weights for weightlifting called "bells"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-weights-for-weightlifting-called-bells/639817>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 4, 2012, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-weights-for-weightlifting-called-bells/639817 "2012-11-04T03:41:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-weights-for-weightlifting-called-bells/639817/1 "2012-11-04T03:41:55Z")

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I get that dumbbells are bells that don’t ring, except they look nothing whatsoever like bells. Also barbells, kettle bells…no resemblance to a bell.

How did they come to be called this?

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**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-weights-for-weightlifting-called-bells/639817/2 "2012-11-04T03:49:07Z")

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Kettle bells _do_ look like the bell you hang from a cow’s neck. (Cattle bell? 😛 )

I’ve always assumed that was the origin.

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**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-weights-for-weightlifting-called-bells/639817/3 "2012-11-04T04:28:18Z")

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How about [this kind of bell](http://mvrprojects.com/Images/FireLgeBott-Delta.jpg)?

They do make a sort-of cowbell clink when you slide them onto the bar, or stack them in a pile.

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**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-weights-for-weightlifting-called-bells/639817/4 "2012-11-04T04:34:23Z")

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I love Southern belles.

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**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-weights-for-weightlifting-called-bells/639817/5 "2012-11-04T05:33:57Z")

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Wikipedia is on it: [Dumbbell - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumbbell#Etymology)

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**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-weights-for-weightlifting-called-bells/639817/6 "2012-11-04T05:41:49Z")

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dumb bells are called that because they originally used church bells with the clappers removed, ergo voiceless or “dumb”.  
Kettle bells are called that because they are shaped like a cauldron or kettle, and bar bells are called that because they have a long bar connecting them.  
(ETA) Scooped by **Manduck** , I see