Idiom
Dead ringer
A dead ringer is a person or thing that looks almost exactly like someone or something else.
How people use it
People use it with for: He is a dead ringer for his grandfather at that age. It works for people, pets, places and objects (that painting is a dead ringer for our old house). It is informal and usually friendly. Dead here means exactly or completely, as in dead center or dead right, and has nothing to do with dying. It means a close resemblance, not a fake, though ringer alone can mean someone brought in under false pretenses, such as a skilled player secretly added to an amateur team.
Examples
- With his new beard, Omar is a dead ringer for our high school history teacher.
- The puppy is a dead ringer for the dog we had when I was a kid.
- This little cafe is a dead ringer for one we visited in Lisbon.
Where it comes from
In American horse racing in the late 1800s, a ringer was a fast horse secretly swapped in for a slower one that looked like it, so cheaters could win bets. Dead was added to mean exact. A popular story says the phrase comes from bells attached to coffins so people buried by mistake could ring for help, but the records do not support that explanation.
Check yourself
1. If someone says you are a dead ringer for your aunt, what do they mean?
Answer: You look just like her. A dead ringer is someone who looks almost exactly like another person.
2. Which origin story is not supported by the records?
Answer: Coffin bells for people buried by mistake. The coffin bell story is popular but unsupported; the phrase comes from racing slang.
Similar idioms
Word game fan? See every word hiding in RINGER.