{"id":2464,"date":"2022-03-11T20:02:55","date_gmt":"2022-03-11T20:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=2464"},"modified":"2022-03-11T20:02:55","modified_gmt":"2022-03-11T20:02:55","slug":"dead-ringer-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/dead-ringer-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"Dead Ringer - Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you looking at someone that looks identical to someone you know? If so, you could call them a \"dead ringer<\/em>.\" This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression.<\/p>\n

Meaning<\/h2>\n

The expression \"dead ringer<\/em>\" has two meanings. The word's original meaning is to describe someone or something that is a direct lookalike to a person you know or another object. Other phrases with the same meaning would be \"100% duplicate<\/em>\" or \"exact duplicate<\/em>.\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 19th-century horse racing, it was slang for a horse going \"under a false name and pedigree<\/em>.\" So, your friend could be a dead ringer<\/em> of a celebrity, or someone you meet out on the town could be a dead ringer<\/em> for someone else you know. The saying applies to random people, celebrities, friends, and family members.<\/p>\n

The Dead Ringer<\/em> is also a reward when you complete 17 of the Spy achievements in the video game Team Fortress 2<\/em>. The player can craft it, receive it as a random drop or purchase it in the Mann Co. Store. Spies using the \"Dead Ringer<\/em>\" can cloak at will.<\/p>\n

So, using the \"dead ringer<\/em>,\" you trap people raiding your body, spawning behind them and killing them before they have the chance to make off with your loot.<\/p>\n

Example Usage<\/h2>\n

\"Look at that girl over there. Don't you think she's a dead ringer<\/em> for my cousin Sandy?\"<\/p>\n

\"I'm telling you, man, Alex Jones is a dead ringer<\/em> for Bill Hicks. He looks just like him, and there's a huge conspiracy online talking about it.\"<\/p>\n

\"That fighter is a dead ringer<\/em> for my brother; it's kinda creepy how similar they look alike.\"<\/p>\n

\"Some people say that girl is a dead ringer<\/em> for Hillary Swank, but I don't see it.\"<\/p>\n

\"That dead ringer<\/em> took me by surprise. One minute I think the campaign is going well, and the next, I have to respawn.\"<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

Origin<\/h2>\n

The origin of the saying, \"dead ringer<\/em>,\" comes from the US horse-racing community at the end of the 19th century. The expression appeared in print for the first time in the \"Manitoba Free Press<\/em>\" in October 1882.<\/p>\n

\"A horse that is taken through the country and trotted under a false name and pedigree is called a 'ringer<\/em>.'\"<\/p>\n

Therefore, a \"dead ringer<\/em>\" has the same definition as a \"doppelganger\" or \"exact duplicate\/copy<\/em>.\" The phrase went on to describe people with similar facial features. The earliest use of the expression in reference to people comes from the Oshkosh Weekly Times<\/em> in June 1888.<\/p>\n

The column describes the court report of a man charged with being drunk in public.<\/p>\n

\"Dat's a dead ringer fo me. I nebber done see such a semblence.\"<\/em><\/p>\n