Is this a common use of 'chime'?

Question

In a recent NYTimes article:

He should have recused himself completely, and have formally informed
the entire board as well as the public about any family interest.
This chimes with what some ethics experts believe. Ideally, museum
experts say, if a work is borrowed from a family...

I've never seen this usage, and an internet search offers no help. This closed question seems similar but doesn't address this usage.
It's possible that the writer meant jibe, which M/W defines as

to be in accord : agree —usually used with with

but I'm inclined to give the NYTimes the benefit of the doubt. At first.
ETA:
The print version of this piece appeared in today's edition, and replaces the word chimes with the word accords, so apparently they weren't fully satisfied with this. I couldn't see the author's bio, but his name is Graham Bowley, which does have a British ring to it.

Magoo · Answer

As a BrE speaker, I'd see it as a little stilted, but comprehensible.
I'd interpret 'jibes' as being the exact opposite, mocking or opposing, despite the dictionary definition offered.
"Chime" would seem more appropriate where used in the sense of an interjection. My preference would be "resonate".

T.E.D. · Answer

All the references other answers are digging up seem to indicate this was historically an American usage.
Having lived for around half a Century in the US, in places including Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Louisiana, and Florida, I can't ever remember encountering that usage of the word. I'm also seeing a few answers here from Americans assuming it must be a foriegn usage. Not to mention the question itself, which appears to have been written by a poster from Michigan.
So no, that does not appear to be a common use of "chime" any more.

senortim · Answer

Americans would say "jibes with", so if this was the NYT, then perhaps it was a British author. I certainly wouldn't be surprised if NYT copyeditors let British usage stand, especially if it is age-old.

Answered by senortim on October 31, 2021

RobJarvis · Answer

I have never heard chime used in that context, but I find at webster-dictionary.org (from Webster's 1913 Dictionary) that chime can mean:

To be in harmony; to agree; to suit; to harmonize; to correspond; to fall in with.
Everything chimed in with such a humor.
(W. Irving)

user 66974 · Answer

Chime with:

to be similar to or agree with someone else’s ideas, plans, feelings etc.
(MacMillan Dictionary)

also chime in with:

If one thing chimes in with another thing or chimes with it, the two things are similar or consistent with each other.
(Collins Dictionary)

Its usage derives from music, and figuratively from early 19th century.

To chime in originally was musical, "join harmoniously;" of conversation by 1838. (Etymonline)

Google Books shows usage of phrasal verb “chime with” increasing in the last decade especially in BrE.
It is interesting that the OED suggests that jibe may be a phonetic variant of chime:
Jibe (v.):

"agree, fit," 1813, gibe, of unknown origin, originally U.S. colloquial, perhaps a figurative extension of earlier jib, gybe (v.) "shift a sail or boom" (see jib). OED, however, suggests a phonetic variant of chime, as if meaning "to chime in with, to be in harmony."

(Etymonline)

Is this a common use of 'chime'?

5 Answers

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question