ring [OE] In Anglo-Saxon times a gold ring was worn as an indication of wealth and status—the word comes from the same root as *rank. The singing game ring-a-ring o’roses is commonly interpreted as referring to the bubonic plague which swept through England in 1665–66, with the ‘ring o’roses’ the rash symptomatic of the disease, the ‘pocketful of posies’ herbs carried to ward off infection, and the final ‘falling down’ part symbolizing death. This is unlikely, as the song is first mentioned only in 1855, although there is a claim it was being sung in Massachusetts in 1790. The use of ring to mean ‘give out a clear sound’ is also recorded from Old English, but is a quite different word, probably representing an imitation of the sound. The phrase ring the changes [E17th], meaning ‘to vary the ways of arranging or doing something’, comes from bell-ringing. The ‘changes’ here are the different sequences in which a peal of church bells can be rung. The idea that something vaguely remembered might ring a bell in your head is a common one, but the expression goes back only to the 1930s.