OK. So I'm at Bar tonight and this guy rings the naval bell which adorms the local bar where you purchase drinks. It is similar I have been told to the type of artefacts which adorn many licensed premises across the world eg bells, bollards from sunken ships etc, usually in memory of those who have died serving their country. Anyway, this almighty argument broke out between these two mates of mine. One said you had to buy (shout) drinks for those people who were actually at the bar and who were addressing the bartender and ordering drinks, while the other friend said, no! you actually have to buy drinks for everyone on the premises at the time [potentially the difference between 10 people and 200). Hardly scientific I know, and I apologise in advance, but it certainly took my interest and I'd be very interested to hear from those in the know. Cheers!
Mind you I might ring the damn thing today if the mighty Hawks beat Geelong in the Australian Football League Grand Final!Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Go for it, sieze the cup. But I suggest you just go for a streak around the pool table with a backflip finish, much cheaper and will certainly be appreciated by all punters, blue or brown.
Depends where I'm sat in the pub, If I'm at the back of the pub no where near the bar I'd feel a little left out Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! The only times we hear the bell in English Pubs is 10 minutes before they close the pub with the words "Time Gentlemen" or when some drunk thinks it fun to ring the bell and play barman. Although you can entertain the usual "old boys" drinking table and if you tell a big enough whopper of a story, they might just buy a round.
In one of the pubs in Sheffield the bell either means last orders, or it's time to play ringing the bull.
Bell ringing I’m sure bell ringing has many different meaning at many different bars, but as a military guy, bells at the bar either mean last call (like an early post mentioned at an English pub) or someone is buying a round for the bar (normally meaning the whole club). Patrons can ring the bell when someone violates a rule of the bar (normally at officer's clubs) for example: - Walk into the Bar covered (military term for wearing a hat). Doing so will constitute buying a round for the bar. - Place your cover on the Bar. Doing so will constitute buying a round for the bar. - Any phone calls not of an official nature or from a significant other or spouse answered at the bar will constitute buying a round for the bar. - DO NOT slap a Command coin (another military thing: coins with your units insignia on it) down on the bar unless you are willing to buy a round for the entire bar ( If you slap a coin down and everyone else at the bar follows suit, YOU are buying. If you slap one down and someone at the bar fails to do so, THEY buy) (This is more of an Army thing in the United States) Anyone at the bar observing a violation of these rules may ring the bell, at which point the violator is obligated to purchase a round for the bar. If you ring the bell for a perceived violation and are proven incorrect your buying a round for the house (this cuts down on drunks ringing the bell because they think it’s funny, if they do they are buying).
Here in the piney woods of the north, ringing the bell means buying a drink for ALL patrons, including a tip of comparable value for all of the serving staff. The bell does not get rung over-often, but it makes for some grand tales when it occurs, frequently related to a special celebration etc. Such occasions can be the stuff that memories are made of, as on rare occasion there may ensue a small competition between the boys with deep pockets in the small mining communities, especially if there is a good mix of company, lol.... As a visitor to Dawson City one evening, I found myself unable to buy a drink. I had come up to spend the weekend with a local boy, scoping him out as a future prospect, and the whole town was in the know and bent on fortifying us both with liquid courage. Grand old custom, that ringing of the bell. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Cool info Macdaddy! Welcome to the forum. I've always wanted to meet my daddy! Here in Texas, the ringing of a bell generally means "last call"...if you want to by the house a round, you have to tell (yell) it to the bartender. In all my years of drinking, I have never once seen anyone buy the entire bar a round.
