I’ve watch the “Saved by the Bell” tv show back in the day, but what does that phrase really mean?
Kryspen G. -Los Angeles
Mr. Lost Angels,
In modern times it is told to boxers who were just about to get knocked out but get to take a break in the corner to get the blood on their face and tears wiped off. But back in the Victorian Days, when people did not know what a pulse was and could not figure out if someone was dead or just sleeping, they would put them in coffins thinking the worst. But, if the person were to wake up in the coffin they would have to bang on the inside of the box until they were blue in the face, literally, and no one would hear them, especially in the middle of an abandoned graveyard.
The geniuses of the time decided to start putting ropes inside the coffin with ropes going outside so they can pull on it to ring a bell to let everyone know they had not died. The gravediggers were paid to hang out for a few days after bodies were buried to listen for bells. If they heard a bell they would have to dig up the body and save them from certain death, saved by the bell.
