"ringer" = someone with unexpected assets?
Joel S. Berson
Berson at ATT.NET
Thu Oct 16 04:27:00 UTC 2008
For me, "ringer" doesn't only mean someone (such as a horse)
substituted for another competitor fraudulently. In other contexts,
it can mean someone who arrives with unexpected capabilities. (The
example I have is a copyeditor who knew enough about the subject
matter to help the author improve the text -- pointing out errors, etc.)
This sense doesn't seem to be in the OED, and a superficial look on
the Internet failed to turn it up either (Google "define ringer",
Wikipedia, urbandictionary).
Joel
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