Ring Knocker

[Duane Campbell]

On Wed, 3 Oct 2001 15:35:23 -0400 "Douglas G. Wilson"
>
> 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.

As someone who spent more time than he should have at the bar in the O
club in Wurzburg, Germany, I am very familiar with the term from roughly
'65 to 75. West Point grads would knock their rings on the bar to get the
bartender's attention and to let him know that they had priority over
officers with a lesser pedigree. My understanding was that the term
applied specifically to an officers' club bar or similar venue and had no
wider use.  You would not, for example, knock your ring on a conference
table at a meeting.

D