Ring Knocker

[Dennis R. Preston]

"Knock" does not require literal meaning. It can mean simply the use
(perhpas in this case ostentatious display) of the noun subject;
compare "fart-knocker>'

dInIs

The US military academies have class rings. These are big gaudy things,
pretty obvious evidence of their bonafides. Graduates wear their rings with
pride.

Often with excessive or unjustified pride, it seems ... according to those
who lack such rings (non-commissioned personnel or those who have become
commissioned via other routes).

I suppose a "ring knocker" is etymologically one who knocks with his ring
(i.e., who shows it off by knocking with it on a door perhaps, or on a
table to call a meeting to order), i.e., implicitly one who is
[excessively] proud of his academic background.

Are there other (non-military) fields in which a class ring or university
ring is very common or conventional?

-- Doug Wilson

--
Dennis R. Preston
Department of Linguistics and Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
preston at pilot.msu.edu
Office: (517)353-0740
Fax: (517)432-2736