_bell can't be unrung_?

[Laurence Horn]

At 6:26 PM -0400 5/7/04, Baker, John wrote:
>         Maybe the poster also heard the NPR interview?  The unrung
>bell is a metaphor that's been around for a while (I can take it to
>1933), and my quick check indicates that it is not experiencing any
>dramatic resurgence in vitality (e.g., only 11 uses this year in
>Westlaw's allnewsplus database).
>
>John Baker
>
Many of the relevant hits will involve the active rather than the
passive:  "You can't unring the bell".  It's often used specifically
for the fact that evidence that the judge orders stricken from the
record will nevertheless be retained in memory by jurors.

Larry