Dude… it’s ok. It happens all the time. Someone told you something, you believed them, you repeated it here uncritically, and now enough of us just aren’t buying it.
No one has accused you of lying. I, and I think all of us, are happy to believe that it’s true you were told this story about the origin of the term “ring knocker.” I for one just do not believe it is a true story (that is, I believe someone told it to you, is just don’t accept that what they told you was true).
But you know, that’s not why I decided to bring this to the pit. No. We’re here now because you keep bringing up self-deprecating slights about not being a “gentleman” or an “enlisted puke” and thus not having a valid opinion, and it just reeks of bad faith.
You might as well show up to an academic conference and the moment someone disagrees with you about something loudly announce you have the smallest dick in the room, and therefore your opinion isn‘t valid because apparently it’s all just a dick measuring contest. It’s a massive self-own that isn’t even *relevant to the issue and you come away looking like a total jack ass.
*ETA: Actually, it’s a little worse than that, because in this case whether you have ever actually been around or served in a wardroom is relevant to the issue. So it’s almost like you’re loudly proclaiming your lack of qualifications, and then acting like we ought to be ashamed of ourselves for not accepting your unqualified assertions as true. As if that’s elitist or something.