Ring Knocker

[James A. Landau]

In a message dated 10/3/01 3:40:21 PM Eastern Daylight Time, douglas at NB.NET
writes:

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

Any NFL player who is in a Super Bowl gets a Super Bowl ring.  I don't know
how show-offy the owners of these rings are, but sportswriters frequently
refer to a player's being/ not being in the Super Bowl as "[not] acquring a
Super Bowl ring" or similar terminology.

      - Jim Landau

P.S. I found two military usages of the term "ringing the bell."

One, from Roger Hall _You're Stepping on my Cloak and Dagger_ referred to the
British practice in World War II of dropping parachutists from a hole in the
bottom of the plane rather than the American style of using a door in the
side.  If you hit your head on the far side of the hole while exiting, you
"rang the bell".

In the US Armed Forces, if you enter the bar of an "O Club" (Officers' Club)
wearing a hat, the bartender "rings the bell" and you have to buy a round for
the house.  (Yes, I checked, you are exempt if you wear a head-covering for
religious reasons.  Imagine an O club bartender arguing with a Sikh.)

I once spent three days in a class where the most convenient eatery for us
students was the O Club at the Washington Navy Yard.  We were carefully
warned that that particular Officers' Club was most conscientious about
maintaining the tradition of "ringing the bell", and yes there was an actual
bell sitting on the bar, waiting...