unring the bell

U

unring the bell

Meaning

• once something has been done you cannot run away from it, you can only face the aftermath
• ramifications have to be withstood whenever something is done
• we cannot take back something once said or done.

Example Sentences

1. Remember Tom, you cannot unring the bell once you have sent out that mail.
2. Once he was done screaming at his old parents for all the pain they had caused him, he realized that there was no unringing the bell now.
3. It often happens to me that I say some really awful things to my mother even though I love her and I realize that there is no unringing the bell now.
4. If only we could unring the bell, this world would be a better place to live in.
5. You can only learn from the mistakes that you make and not repeat them again because unringing the bell is not an option.

Origin

The earliest use of the idiom unring the bell  was in the Oregon Supreme Court case of State v. Rader, argued on May 9, 1912, decided on May 28, 1912.This idiom is sometimes used in jury trials  to describe the judge’s instructions to the jury to ignore inadmissible evidence and statements they come across in trials.