我们通常理解的ringer是“铃声”，可dead ringer是什么意思呢？请看对话：

    A: Has anyone ever told you you’re a dead ringer for Jackie Chan?

    B: I wouldn’t take that as a compliment. I am much more handsome than that guy! I don’t like him either.

    Note: This idiom means “an exact duplicate.” A ringer is a horse substituted for another of similar appearance in order to defraud the bookies. This word originated in the U.S. horse-racing fraternity at the end of the 19th century. It has since been adopted into the language to mean any very close duplicate. Dead, in the sense of lifeless, is so commonly used that we tend to ignore its other meanings. The meaning that’s relevant here is exact or precise. This is demonstrated in many phrases: dead shot, dead center, dead heat, etc.