21 Jan 2010, 5:26 am
DarrylZero wrote:
*WARNING: USELESS TRIVIA*
*WARNING: USELESS TRIVIA*
The fear of being buried alive was so prevalent that a contraption was set up when someone was buried. A string extended from inside the coffin, up through the ground, to a bell suspended above the ground. This way, if someone was buried alive, he/she could pull on the string and ring the bell. Thus, they were "saved by the bell."
Of course, someone would have to be posted at the gravesite and watch for the bell. This person would be required to stay overnight and work the "graveyard shift."
*END OF USELESS TRIVIA*
*END OF USELESS TRIVIA*
*WARNING: USELESS TRIVIA*
Aimless wrote:
I saw the movie based on the book years ago. It was a bit overdone but still interesting. They made it into kind of a thriller. From what I understand the victim can feel everything but is completely paralyzed and normal signs of life are so diminished they could only be picked up by medical equipment. The victims are buried and then dug up and culturally they really believe they are dead. This is similar to how the vampire myth began. When people went into a coma they were thought to be dead and buried. Later when grave robbers opened the grave to look for loot they would find evidence that the corpse had woken up, by broken fingernails, scratches on the inside of the coffin lid etc.
The fear of being buried alive was so prevalent that a contraption was set up when someone was buried. A string extended from inside the coffin, up through the ground, to a bell suspended above the ground. This way, if someone was buried alive, he/she could pull on the string and ring the bell. Thus, they were "saved by the bell."
Of course, someone would have to be posted at the gravesite and watch for the bell. This person would be required to stay overnight and work the "graveyard shift."
*END OF USELESS TRIVIA*
*END OF USELESS TRIVIA*
I actually knew about that bell. Useless trivia is all I have
CowboyFromHell
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22 Jan 2010, 6:54 pm
Ambivalence
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22 Jan 2010, 7:06 pm
CowboyFromHell wrote:
I knew that as well, about that leading to the term "graveyard shift." But I didn't know that was the origin of the phrase "saved by the bell." I always assumed it meant a kid getting beat up in the school hallways getting let free when the bell rang.
Neither of them is true. Snopes Linky. Someone's idea of a jolly jape. May they suffer an appropriate fate.
22 Jan 2010, 10:48 pm
