Where does the term...

#1 (**permalink**) 11-29-2006, 09:24 AM

A Dead Ringer. come from ?

#2 (**permalink**) 12-04-2006, 01:10 PM

Would anyone like to know ?

**Ash** · #3 (**permalink**) 12-04-2006, 01:40 PM

I don't think that anyone knows.

#4 (**permalink**) 12-05-2006, 08:20 AM

Well it comes from being buried alive ! lol, way back in the 1400s they used to serve food on led dinnerware plates, vegetables like tomatoes would soak up the led and people eating them would die or become deathly ill, like in a coma, all grey and unresponsive many were buried alive, when medical professionals of the day became involved they dug up some of these people and found scratch marks on the lids of the coffins ! so from then on when they buried someone, they would tie a wire on the finger of the person, drill a hole in the coffin lid and run the wire up to a post with a little bell on it so if there was any sign of life, people would hear the bell ring, and the people who might hear the bell ? they were posted on "the graveyard shift" imagine if you heard the bell ringing !

**Ash** · #5 (**permalink**) 12-05-2006, 08:45 AM

That's rather gruesome... thanks for sharing, though! I never knew it before!

#6 (**permalink**) 12-05-2006, 08:56 AM

Yes they were pretty rude and crude back then, haha, your very welcome.

#7 (**permalink**) 02-23-2007, 10:46 AM

Another term originating from that is "Saved By The Bell"

Bob The Computer Guy · #8 (**permalink**) 03-14-2007, 12:05 AM

Nice, that's intersting, but I don't see how it was gruesome it saved lives.

wolfy69 · #9 (**permalink**) 03-14-2007, 11:07 AM

funny how things make ya mind bend into these spazzems of thought, why is the ony question i got for that person
i thought it might of cum from a dead car feef lol

**albrunton** · #10 (**permalink**) 04-23-2007, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pursang

Well it comes from being buried alive ! lol, way back in the 1400s they used to serve food on led dinnerware plates, vegetables like tomatoes would soak up the led and people eating them would die or become deathly ill, like in a coma, all grey and unresponsive many were buried alive, when medical professionals of the day became involved they dug up some of these people and found scratch marks on the lids of the coffins ! so from then on when they buried someone, they would tie a wire on the finger of the person, drill a hole in the coffin lid and run the wire up to a post with a little bell on it so if there was any sign of life, people would hear the bell ring, and the people who might hear the bell ? they were posted on "the graveyard shift" imagine if you heard the bell ringing !

im sure this is true and im not disputing the fact, but im lead to belive that the phrase "dead ringer" is used when something looks or is very similar to something else, if the above story is true, why is it used in this context?

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