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Reader question: Please explain “answer the bell”, as in the following: “I was really proud how many times we answered the bell tonight and hit big shots when we needed them.” My comments: In the above example, it means that every time the challenge was on, they were ready for it, and they delivered by making timely shots – big (important) shots. “Answer the bell” is an expression borrowed from boxing. In the game of boxing, a bell is used to signal the beginning and end of each and every round. Amateur boxers, such as the Olympians play three rounds, but professional fighters fight as many as 10, 12 and sometimes (rarely now but often in the past) 15 rounds. Boxers play on a canvas, a square platform circled by ropes. At the beginning of each round, the bell sounds and the two boxers hop out of their corner, advance to the middle of the ring and proceed to fight. At the end of each round, lasting three minutes, the bell rings again and each player goes back to his corner, where trainers and helpers let him sit on a stool to rest and recuperate. At the beginning of the next round, the bell sounds again – and the boxer rises up to resume the fight. That’s where the express “answering the bell” comes from – the boxer “answers the bell” to fight another round. If he fails to rise up at the sound of the bell, you know, if he’s too tired or hurt to resume fighting, he would lose the match. | 
