General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsEliot Rosewater
(31,109 posts)a real patriot and a patriot with a brain.
Me.
(35,454 posts)What's the dozens?
EffieBlack
(14,249 posts)It's an artform
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dozens
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,669 posts)in a variety of cultures for centuries - for example, Norse, old English, Celtic, Inuit, Arabic, ancient Greek, Japanese and Finnish. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyting "The exchanges would become extremely provocative, often involving accusations of cowardice or sexual perversion."... "Flyting is similar in both form and function to the modern practice of freestyle battles between rappers and the historic practice of the Dozens, a verbal-combat game representing a synthesis of flyting and its Early Modern English descendants with comparable African verbal-combat games such as Ikocha Nkocha."
Maybe it developed independently in various societies as a ritualized way of fighting without violence. Now it's becoming a Twitter form!
Me.
(35,454 posts)Cha
(297,136 posts)I was going to google.
Oh I did anyway..
Dozens is oral legacy rooted in survival
The dozens is a game of verbal combat, played mostly by black males on street corners. It is designed to teach participants to maintain control and keep cool under adverse circumstances.
"We played the dozens for recreation, like white folks play Scrabble," H. Rap Brown once said.
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1994-02-11/features/1994042244_1_mothers-dirty-dozens-censures
Me.
(35,454 posts)brush
(53,764 posts)"playing the dozens" is?
HipChick
(25,485 posts)The dozens is a game of verbal combat, played mostly by black males on street corners. It is designed to teach participants to maintain control and keep cool under adverse circumstances.
"We played the dozens for recreation, like white folks play Scrabble," H. Rap Brown once said.
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1994-02-11/features/1994042244_1_mothers-dirty-dozens-censures
scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)I assume the reason I know what "playing the dozens" means is due to the fact that I'm an obsessive reader - books, magazine articles, newspapers, cereal boxes, movie reviews...
Somewhere along the line, I came across the term - loved it and remembered it.
byronius
(7,392 posts)Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(107,900 posts)But yes he clearly knows how to flip someone's shit back at them
winstars
(4,219 posts)The Dozens is a game of spoken words between two contestants, common in black communities of the United States, where participants insult each other until one gives up. It is customary for the Dozens to be played in front of an audience of bystanders, who encourage the participants to reply with more egregious insults to heighten the tension and, consequently, to be more interesting to watch. It is also known as "blazing", "hiking", "roasting", "capping", "clowning", "ranking", "ragging", "rekking", "crumming", "sounding", "checkin", "joning", "woofing", "wolfing", "sigging", or "signifying",[1][2] while the insults themselves are known as "snaps".[3][4]
Comments in the game focus on the opposite player's intelligence, appearance, competency, social status, financial situation, and disparaging remarks about the other player's family membersmothers in particular ("yo′ mama..." are common. Those outside the African-American community, in fact, often use the incorrectly specific term "yo momma jokes" to refer to the dozens. Commentary is often related to sexual issues, where the game is then referred to as the "Dirty Dozens".[5]
populistdriven
(5,644 posts)mcar
(42,300 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Cha
(297,136 posts)Michael Avenatti seems to be a natural at playing the dozens.
Porn star's lawyer a 'street fighter' with Ivy League degree
https://www.yahoo.com/news/stormy-daniels-media-savvy-lawyer-trumps-newest-nemesis-041701507.html
He does his homework!