Our big daddy Tim asked me a question today with regards to sparking an idea in the mind, I gave it some thought and decided to post my answers here, the following is for reference only.
When you have an idea in your mind, your could make use of the following expressions and/or sentences to carry out your answer.
For example:
CEO of a company says:"We need to come up with an idea to drive innovation to stay competitive with other companies, anything you can think of?"
Here the answer could be the following: "Oh, I know! I have come up with an idea, we could do this and that and this and that.........."
So, here it's clear that "I have come up with an idea" Would be the most relevant answer.
Whereas, the expression "to ring a bell" is used to state that "something that's familiar has flashed in my mind"
For example, Q: "Do you remember Jane from two years ago? Jane. Jane Sanders"
Answer: "Errrr.......it rings a bell, but somehow it's quite unclear, I can't seem to link the name with the face"
Tim also brought up a question with regards to the word "hit"
I have to say that "hit" is a very versatile word.
In it's simplest form, "hit" is just to "strike" or to "impact"
But to use it in a more figurative sense you can say:
"Windows 7 is set for a worldwide Oct 22nd release and will sure to be hitting the shelves on 00:00 on that day"
"Britney Spears' "Hit me baby one more time has hit the U.K top 10 charts once again! It's unbelievable"
"Lord of the Rings Trilogy will be hitting stores nationwide in the next couple of weeks.
Hope this helps.
Hans