old school tie

1 8.4

A narrow cloth worn at the neck to show which school someone went to and social connections

noun
/əʊld skuːl taɪ/

: corbata de la escuela antigua

He proudly wore his old school tie at the alumni dinner, connecting him to his prestigious school.

Examples

I don't believe my old school tie ever appeared to better advantage.

The Rains Came (1939)
The properly striped, old school tie.

Fiction book (2002)
Got to love those old-school ties.

Four (2021)
You've worn the queen's uniform and the old school tie.

The Prisoner of Zenda (1952)
Attending the event in his old school tie, he felt a sense of camaraderie with other graduates.
The old school tie he wore reminded him of the friendships and memories from his university days.

Synonyms

tie

vsold school tie

369 1.0

A long narrow piece of cloth worn around the neck and knotted at the front

is mainly an identifying symbol of alumni and privilege rather than plain dress

necktie

vsold school tie

21 1.0

A long narrow piece of cloth you wear under a shirt collar and tie at the front

is used specifically to show school affiliation and social privilege

Surface Forms

old school tie singular

old school ties plural

Morphology

old + school + tie

The phrase is partly compositional: a B1 learner who knows 'old', 'school' and 'tie' can infer it refers to a tie associated with a (former) school or worn by alumni. However, the sociocultural meaning—signalling alumni connections, status or privilege in British contexts—is pragmatic and culturally specific, not fully predictable from the constituents, so full understanding requires exposure.

Etymology

Old school tie comes from the real tie that former students of some British schools wore to show which school they had attended. Because wearing that tie showed belonging and could help people get jobs or join the same clubs, the phrase now means a sign of 'social connection' or 'privilege'.