From rhymingring andding with-y. Used by comedianLily Tomlin imitating atelephone operator (“one ringy-dingy, two ringy-dingies …”).
ringy-dingy (pluralringy-dingies)(colloquial)
- Atelephone ring.
1994 September 20, Linda Ballou, “BODY WATCH : Twice Stung, Thrice Shy […]”, inLos Angeles Times[1], Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe original on2 October 2025:I stumbled to my car to call the barn owner. After manyringy-dingies, I gave up.
2009 March 11,David Pogue, “One Number to Ring Them All”, inThe New York Times[2], New York, N.Y.:The New York Times Company,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe original on1 April 2009:Each time you answered a call, while the caller was still hearing “oneringy-dingy, tworingy-dingies,” you heard a recording offering four ways to handle the call: “Press 1 to accept, 2 to send to voice mail, 3 to listen in on voice mail, or 4 to accept and record the call.”
2016 May 23,Emma Allen, “Fortunate”, inThe New Yorker[3], New York, N.Y.:Condé Nast Publications,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe original on17 May 2016:Her “first significant wig,” she said, was for Ernestine, the snorting, power-drunk telephone-operator character (“Oneringy-dingy!”) made famous on “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.”
- Acall; aring(an instance ofcalling someone on thetelephone).
1996 April 16, Puter, “(no subject)”, inalt.romance.chat[4] (Usenet), archived fromthe original on2 October 2025:Andrew Vautier made aringy-dingy...
> Give me a call!
Give me a house!
2000 July 27, Zabana Brandon, “OT: I just met a *real* sweetheart!!”, inalt.tv.star-trek.voyager[5] (Usenet), archived fromthe original on2 October 2025:Give me aringy-dingy or a number to call and you'll see!! ;)
2006 November 7, Boron Elgar, “Raise Your Hand If You Got A Call FromGeorge W.Bush Today”, inalt.fan.cecil-adams[6] (Usenet), archived fromthe original on2 October 2025:I had a pant load of calls on my answering machine today. I truly appreciatedDubya taking time out from his busy war to give me aringy-dingy.
