old school tie

American  

noun

1. a necktie striped in the colors of a specific English public school, especially as worn by a graduate to indicate his educational background.

2. an alumnus of an English public school.

3. the clannishness and conservative manners, dress, and attitudes associated with students and graduates of the English public schools.

4. snobbishness, clannishness, or extreme conservatism.

---

old school tie British  

noun

1. a distinctive tie that indicates which school the wearer attended

2. the attitudes, loyalties, values, etc, associated with British public schools

---

Etymology

Origin of old school tie

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

old school tie

Wearing what looks like an old school tie, he says his squad is "well-balanced".

From The Guardian ● May 16, 2012

Another curiously Sri Lankan trait, highlighted in the book, is the "old school tie", the fierce attachment to one's alma mater.

From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2011

He was old school, tie or not, and all the better for it.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 5, 2010

It isn't something like the old school tie that you wear.

From Time Magazine Archive

To many a Briton dickered with an old school tie, a high point of the year is the June day when he and his kind flock to Lords cricket grounds to watch the Eton-Harrow match.

From Time Magazine Archive