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| ⚫ | '''''The dozens''''' is an ] custom in which two competitors go head to head in a competition of often ] "trash talk". They take turns ]ing—"cracking" or "ranking"—one another, their adversary's mother, or other family member until one of them has no comeback. This is called '''playing the dozens''', '''doin' the dozens''', or sometimes '''dirty dozens'''. The dozens is a contest of personal power—of wit, self-control, verbal ability, mental agility, and mental toughness. Each putdown, or ''snap'', ups the ante. Defeat can be humiliating, but a skilled contender, win or lose, may gain respect. The dozens is one of the contributing elements in the ], especially the practice of ''battling''. | ||
| ⚫ | ] | ||
| ⚫ | ''' |
||
| ==History and practice== | |||
| ⚫ | The dozens can be a harmless game of casual, good-natured jibes; an exchange of malicious insults; or, if tempers flare, a prelude to physical violence. While the competition on its face is usually light-hearted, smiles sometimes mask real tensions. In its purest form, the dozens is part of an African-American custom of verbal sparring, of "]" and "signifyin'", ostensibly intended to defuse conflict nonviolently, descended from an oral tradition rooted in traditional ]n cultures. | ||
| ⚫ | "Yo' momma", a common, widely recognized argumentative rejoinder in African-American vernacular speech, is a cryptic and sometimes comical allusion to the dozens. | ||
| ⚫ | The term ''the dozens'' is believed to refer to the devaluing on the auction block of slaves who were past their prime, deformed, aged, or no longer capable of hard labor after years of back-breaking toil. These slaves often were sold by the dozen. In "Still Laughing to Keep from Crying: Black Humor", African-American author and professor Mona Lisa Saloy writes: | ||
| ==About the dozens== | |||
| ⚫ | The dozens can be a harmless game of casual, good-natured jibes; an exchange of malicious insults; or, if tempers flare, a prelude to physical violence. |
||
| ⚫ | ::The dozens has its origins in the slave trade of New Orleans where deformed slaves—generally slaves punished with dismemberment for disobedience—were grouped in lots of a 'cheap dozen' for sale to slave owners. For a Black to be sold as part of the 'dozens' was the lowest blow possible.{{ref|saloy}} | ||
| ⚫ | "Yo' momma |
||
| ⚫ | ], one of the most popular American ] musicians of the ], released a song ''Twelves (Dirty Dozens)'' that includes lyrics such as: | ||
| ⚫ | The term |
||
| ::I like yo' momma - sister, too | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | ::I did like your poppa - but your poppa wouldn't do | ||
| ⚫ | ::I met your poppa on the corner the other day | ||
| ::I soon found out he was funny that way. | |||
| ⚫ | ] group ] released a song on their debut album ''Bizarre Ride II: The Pharcyde'' entitled "Yo' Mama", the lyrics of which consist entirely of snaps. Australian hip-hop outfit ] have a song "Yo Momma", which features the chorus ''"Yo Momma's on the top of my things-to-do list"''. | ||
| ⚫ | ], one of the most popular American ] musicians of the 1930s, released a song ''Twelves (Dirty Dozens)'' that includes lyrics such as: |
||
| ⚫ | I did like your poppa - but your poppa wouldn't do |
||
| ⚫ | I met your poppa on the corner the other day |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| In ], the ] released ''The Dozens'', a dozens game for ]s. |
In ], the ] released ''The Dozens'', a dozens game for ]s. The movies '']'', '']'', '']'', and '']'' include exchanges of snaps. The TV show '']'' regularly featured a game show segment titled ''The Dirty Dozens'' and parodies of popular game shows, such as '']'' and '']''. | ||
| ] talks about playing |
] talks about playing the dozens on his grammy winning album ''The Class Clown''. | ||
| ::"You wanna know the dozens, well the dozens is a game, but the way I fucked your mother, is a god damn shame" | |||
| African-American youth have been known to express contempt or defiance by reciting a short poem that refers to the dozens, but in which the insults are mostly implied: | African-American youth have been known to express contempt or defiance by reciting a short poem that refers to the dozens, but in which the insults are mostly implied: | ||
| ::Yo' momma, yo' daddy, Yo' bald-headed granny | |||
| ::Yo' momma, Yo' daddy, Yo' sista, too. Go tell them bitches to go back to the zoo. | |||
| ==The dozens in literature== | ==The dozens in literature== | ||
| ''Snaps'' (1994), written by James Percelay, is a compendium of over 450 jokes. Its popularity gave rise to sequels ''Double Snaps'' (1995), ''Triple Snaps'' (1996), and ''Snaps 4'' (1998). The books use the epithet "your mother |
''Snaps'' (1994), written by James Percelay, is a compendium of over 450 jokes. Its popularity gave rise to sequels ''Double Snaps'' (1995), ''Triple Snaps'' (1996), and ''Snaps 4'' (1998). The books use the epithet "your mother", as opposed to the more common "yo' momma". | ||
| ''A Portrait of Yo Mama As a Young Man'' (2005), written by Andrew Barlow and Kent Roberts, is a postmodern take on the dozens which redefines the form through the use of reflexivity, absurdism, and anti-humor. In addition to jokes, the book contains charts, poetry, a |
''A Portrait of Yo Mama As a Young Man'' (2005), written by Andrew Barlow and Kent Roberts, is a postmodern take on the dozens which redefines the form through the use of reflexivity, absurdism, and anti-humor. In addition to jokes, the book contains charts, poetry, a résumé, and various other short humor pieces. | ||
| ==Related practices outside the African-American community== | ==Related practices outside the African-American community== | ||
| The dozens has spread beyond the African |
The dozens has spread beyond the African-American community and spawned similar phenomena in other cultures. In Britain, for instance, the ] is "your mum". Derogatory barbs focus almost exclusively on impugning the sexual integrity of the target's mother. | ||
| Historically, similar verbal competitions were practiced in other cultures. |
Historically, similar verbal competitions were practiced in other cultures. A ] in sixteenth-century ] was an exchange of abusive poems by poets, though the term refers generally to the exchange of insults in ancient Norse and Germanic cultures. American ]s in the late nineteenth century participated in '''cussing contests''', the winners of which often were awarded new saddles. | ||
| Some use |
Some use ''your mom'' jokes as a riposte and oftentimes a counter-riposte to any insulting statement made—for example, the short exchange: "You're an idiot." "Your mom is an idiot!" | ||
| In recent years, |
In recent years, ''your mom'' jokes also are used for statements that have no hostile or pejorative intent: "I love to eat ice cream." "Your mom loves to eat ice cream!" This practice is a direct result of the immense popularity of the motion picture ], in which Kip says to Debbie, "Your mom goes to college", for no apparent reason. Many "your mom" statements are simply allusions to this work. | ||
| In other practices they are used as a clever way to skew another person's words: |
In other practices they are used as a clever way to skew another person's words: "] noodles are cheap and easy." "Your mom is cheap and easy!" | ||
| ==Examples of |
==Examples of snaps== | ||
| ⚫ | {{wikibookspar|Jokebook|Your Mama}} | ||
| What follow are a few sanitized, less colorful examples of snaps in the dozens. | What follow are a few sanitized, less colorful examples of snaps in the dozens. | ||
| "Yo' momma's so |
"Yo' momma's so fat..." | ||
| *"...she puts mayonnaise on her aspirin" | *"...she puts mayonnaise on her aspirin" | ||
| *"...she fell in love and broke it." | *"...she fell in love and broke it." | ||
| Line 55: | Line 59: | ||
| *"...when she goes out ], the ]s have to hide their food." | *"...when she goes out ], the ]s have to hide their food." | ||
| *"...she's on both sides of the ]." | *"...she's on both sides of the ]." | ||
| *"...when she lies around the ], she lies '''around''' the house." | |||
| *"...when I said it was chilly outside, she grabbed a spoon and ran out the door!" | |||
| *"...she could sell shade." | |||
| *"...she broke her leg, an' gravy poured out." | |||
| *"...when she hauls ass, she gotta take two trips!" | |||
| *"...her favorite food is seconds!" | |||
| *"...when she goes to the zoo, elephants throw HER peanuts!" | |||
| *"...when God said, 'Let there be light,' He asked her to move." | |||
| *"...her blood type is gravy." | |||
| *"...her ] photo was taken by ]!" | |||
| *"...when she takes a shower, her feet don't get wet!" | |||
| *"...when she goes to the theater, they play the movie on her back!" | |||
| *"...the earth revolves around her!" | |||
| *"...she jumped in the air and got stuck." | |||
| *"...she filled the ] and turned on the tap." | |||
| *"...when I drove around her I ran out of gas." | |||
| *"...she entered ] and parts of Canada and Mexico. | |||
| *"...when she was walkin' down the street, and a cop said, 'Y'all break it up, now." | |||
| *"...she wore an ] jacket, and a helicopter landed on her." | |||
| *"...when she dances, the band skips." | |||
| *"...I had to use 10 gallons of petrol to get around her." | |||
| *"...I was having sex with her and I had to roll over twice to get offa' the bitch." | |||
| Yo' momma's so heavy, when she stepped on a scale... | Yo' momma's so heavy, when she stepped on a scale... | ||
| Line 84: | Line 67: | ||
| *"...the needle went around so much that it screwed the scale into the floor!" | *"...the needle went around so much that it screwed the scale into the floor!" | ||
| *"...she saw '90210' for the first time in five years!" | *"...she saw '90210' for the first time in five years!" | ||
| "Yo' momma's so old..." | "Yo' momma's so old..." | ||
| Line 91: | Line 75: | ||
| *"...when ] said, 'Let there be light,' she flipped the switch!" | *"...when ] said, 'Let there be light,' she flipped the switch!" | ||
| *"...she still owes ] a quarter." | *"...she still owes ] a quarter." | ||
| *"...she sat behind ] in third grade." | |||
| *"...she has a Bible that is signed by the author." | |||
| *"...Jesus signed her high school yearbook." | |||
| *"...when she went to school, they didn't have history class." | |||
| *"...her birth certificate says 'Expired'" | |||
| *"...when I told her to act her age, she died" | |||
| "Yo' momma's so poor..." |
"Yo' momma's so poor..." | ||
| *"...when she goes to ] she licks other people's fingers!" | *"...when she goes to ] she licks other people's fingers!" | ||
| *"...when the wolf comes to your house, he brings his own sandwiches!" | *"...when the wolf comes to your house, he brings his own sandwiches!" | ||
| Line 104: | Line 83: | ||
| *"...she can't even afford to pay attention!" | *"...she can't even afford to pay attention!" | ||
| *"...she put a cheeseburger on layaway!" | *"...she put a cheeseburger on layaway!" | ||
| "Yo' momma's so stupid..." | "Yo' momma's so stupid..." | ||
| Line 110: | Line 90: | ||
| *"...she thinks ] is a ] holiday." | *"...she thinks ] is a ] holiday." | ||
| *"...she went hungry in an all-you-can-eat buffet." | *"...she went hungry in an all-you-can-eat buffet." | ||
| *"...when someone said that drinks were on the house, she went onto the roof!" | |||
| *"...if ignorance was bliss, then she would be Mrs. Happy." | |||
| *"...she returned a donut because it had a hole in it!" | |||
| *"...she tried to hang herself with a cordless phone." | |||
| "Yo' momma's so bald, you can see what she thinkin'." | "Yo' momma's so bald, you can see what she thinkin'." | ||
| "Yo' momma's such a bad cook..." | "Yo' momma's such a bad cook..." | ||
| Line 121: | Line 99: | ||
| *"...she lost her recipe for instant ]." | *"...she lost her recipe for instant ]." | ||
| *"...we ] ''after'' we eat." | *"...we ] ''after'' we eat." | ||
| *"...your dog says, 'Barf, barf!'" |
*"...your dog says, 'Barf, barf!'" | ||
| "Yo' momma's like..." | "Yo' momma's like..." | ||
| Line 129: | Line 108: | ||
| *"a roller-coaster: everyone gets to ride her." | *"a roller-coaster: everyone gets to ride her." | ||
| *"a vacuum cleaner, she sucks, blows, and gets laid in the closet." | *"a vacuum cleaner, she sucks, blows, and gets laid in the closet." | ||
| *"a shotgun, two pumps and she's done." | |||
| *"10-10-220, 99 cents for the first 20 minutes, 7 cents a minute after that." | |||
| *"a hockey player she wears the same pads through 3 periods." | |||
| *"a warehouse, 10 cents a screw." | |||
| "The difference between your momma and an elevator in the projects is...not everyone rides the elevator." | |||
| "Yo' father..." | "Yo' father..." | ||
| *"got no legs so he shops at Just Shirts!" | *"got no legs so he shops at Just Shirts!" | ||
| *"has no arms and bought a vest" | *"has no arms and bought a vest" | ||
| "Yo' sister's so ugly..." | "Yo' sister's so ugly..." | ||
| Line 144: | Line 120: | ||
| *"...she makes blind kids cry." | *"...she makes blind kids cry." | ||
| *"...the bears built a fire to keep her away." | *"...the bears built a fire to keep her away." | ||
| *"...she could curdle a cow." | |||
| *"...bigfoot takes pictures of her." | |||
| *"...when she was born, the doctor slapped your momma!" | |||
| *"...she makes your mom look good." | |||
| "Yo' sister's like a..." | "Yo' sister's like a..." | ||
| *"... ], she burns four rubbers a night." | *"... ], she burns four rubbers a night." | ||
| *"...], she's on everybody's laptop." | *"...], she's on everybody's laptop." | ||
| "Yo' brother's so..." | "Yo' brother's so..." | ||
| Line 157: | Line 131: | ||
| *"...fat, he raced a pregnant woman and came in third!" | *"...fat, he raced a pregnant woman and came in third!" | ||
| ⚫ | Snaps may also exaggerate a persons body part such as: | ||
| ⚫ | Snaps may also exaggerate a persons body part such as: | ||
| *"...Your ] is so big you pick your boogers with ] gloves." | *"...Your ] is so big you pick your boogers with ] gloves." | ||
| *"...Your ]s so big your mouth looks like a cheeseburger." | *"...Your ]s so big your mouth looks like a cheeseburger." | ||
| Line 164: | Line 138: | ||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| ⚫ | {{wikibookspar|Jokebook|Your Mama}} | ||
| * ] | * ] | ||
| * ] | * ] | ||
| ==References== | |||
| #{{note|saloy}}{{Web reference|author=Mona Lisa Saloy|publishyear=2001|url=http://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Articles_Essays/still_laugh.html|title=Still Laughing to Keep from Crying: Black Humor|work=Louisiana Folklife Festival booklet|date=2005-11-15}} | |||
| ==External links== | ==External links== | ||
| Line 177: | Line 152: | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| ⚫ | ] | ||
Revision as of 04:05, 16 November 2005
The dozens is an African American custom in which two competitors go head to head in a competition of often ribald "trash talk". They take turns insulting—"cracking" or "ranking"—one another, their adversary's mother, or other family member until one of them has no comeback. This is called playing the dozens, doin' the dozens, or sometimes dirty dozens. The dozens is a contest of personal power—of wit, self-control, verbal ability, mental agility, and mental toughness. Each putdown, or snap, ups the ante. Defeat can be humiliating, but a skilled contender, win or lose, may gain respect. The dozens is one of the contributing elements in the development of hip hop, especially the practice of battling.
History and practice
The dozens can be a harmless game of casual, good-natured jibes; an exchange of malicious insults; or, if tempers flare, a prelude to physical violence. While the competition on its face is usually light-hearted, smiles sometimes mask real tensions. In its purest form, the dozens is part of an African-American custom of verbal sparring, of "woofin'" and "signifyin'", ostensibly intended to defuse conflict nonviolently, descended from an oral tradition rooted in traditional West African cultures.
"Yo' momma", a common, widely recognized argumentative rejoinder in African-American vernacular speech, is a cryptic and sometimes comical allusion to the dozens.
The term the dozens is believed to refer to the devaluing on the auction block of slaves who were past their prime, deformed, aged, or no longer capable of hard labor after years of back-breaking toil. These slaves often were sold by the dozen. In "Still Laughing to Keep from Crying: Black Humor", African-American author and professor Mona Lisa Saloy writes:
- The dozens has its origins in the slave trade of New Orleans where deformed slaves—generally slaves punished with dismemberment for disobedience—were grouped in lots of a 'cheap dozen' for sale to slave owners. For a Black to be sold as part of the 'dozens' was the lowest blow possible.
Kokomo Arnold, one of the most popular American blues musicians of the 1930s, released a song Twelves (Dirty Dozens) that includes lyrics such as:
- I like yo' momma - sister, too
- I did like your poppa - but your poppa wouldn't do
- I met your poppa on the corner the other day
- I soon found out he was funny that way.
Alternative hip hop group The Pharcyde released a song on their debut album Bizarre Ride II: The Pharcyde entitled "Yo' Mama", the lyrics of which consist entirely of snaps. Australian hip-hop outfit Butterfingers have a song "Yo Momma", which features the chorus "Yo Momma's on the top of my things-to-do list".
In 2004, the Wayans Brothers released The Dozens, a dozens game for mobile phones. The movies White Men Can't Jump, Remember the Titans, 8 Mile, and House Party include exchanges of snaps. The TV show In Living Color regularly featured a game show segment titled The Dirty Dozens and parodies of popular game shows, such as Wheel of Dozens and Family Dozens.
George Carlin talks about playing the dozens on his grammy winning album The Class Clown.
- "You wanna know the dozens, well the dozens is a game, but the way I fucked your mother, is a god damn shame"
African-American youth have been known to express contempt or defiance by reciting a short poem that refers to the dozens, but in which the insults are mostly implied:
- Yo' momma, yo' daddy, Yo' bald-headed granny
- Yo' momma, Yo' daddy, Yo' sista, too. Go tell them bitches to go back to the zoo.
The dozens in literature
Snaps (1994), written by James Percelay, is a compendium of over 450 jokes. Its popularity gave rise to sequels Double Snaps (1995), Triple Snaps (1996), and Snaps 4 (1998). The books use the epithet "your mother", as opposed to the more common "yo' momma".
A Portrait of Yo Mama As a Young Man (2005), written by Andrew Barlow and Kent Roberts, is a postmodern take on the dozens which redefines the form through the use of reflexivity, absurdism, and anti-humor. In addition to jokes, the book contains charts, poetry, a résumé, and various other short humor pieces.
Related practices outside the African-American community
The dozens has spread beyond the African-American community and spawned similar phenomena in other cultures. In Britain, for instance, the analogous usage is "your mum". Derogatory barbs focus almost exclusively on impugning the sexual integrity of the target's mother.
Historically, similar verbal competitions were practiced in other cultures. A flyting in sixteenth-century Scotland was an exchange of abusive poems by poets, though the term refers generally to the exchange of insults in ancient Norse and Germanic cultures. American cowboys in the late nineteenth century participated in cussing contests, the winners of which often were awarded new saddles.
Some use your mom jokes as a riposte and oftentimes a counter-riposte to any insulting statement made—for example, the short exchange: "You're an idiot." "Your mom is an idiot!"
In recent years, your mom jokes also are used for statements that have no hostile or pejorative intent: "I love to eat ice cream." "Your mom loves to eat ice cream!" This practice is a direct result of the immense popularity of the motion picture Napoleon Dynamite, in which Kip says to Debbie, "Your mom goes to college", for no apparent reason. Many "your mom" statements are simply allusions to this work.
In other practices they are used as a clever way to skew another person's words: "Ramen noodles are cheap and easy." "Your mom is cheap and easy!"
Examples of snaps
What follow are a few sanitized, less colorful examples of snaps in the dozens.
"Yo' momma's so fat..."
- "...she puts mayonnaise on her aspirin"
- "...she fell in love and broke it."
- "...I yelled 'Hey Kool-Aid!', and she busted through the wall."
- "...when she goes out camping, the bears have to hide their food."
- "...she's on both sides of the family."
Yo' momma's so heavy, when she stepped on a scale...
- "...it said, 'One at a time, please!'"
- "...it said, 'No livestock allowed!'"
- "...it said, 'To be continued!'"
- "...the needle went around so much that it screwed the scale into the floor!"
- "...she saw '90210' for the first time in five years!"
"Yo' momma's so old..."
- "...her social security number is 1"
- "...her breastmilk is powder."
- "...she farts dust."
- "...when God said, 'Let there be light,' she flipped the switch!"
- "...she still owes Moses a quarter."
"Yo' momma's so poor..."
- "...when she goes to KFC she licks other people's fingers!"
- "...when the wolf comes to your house, he brings his own sandwiches!"
- "...she got married just for the rice!"
- "...she can't even afford to pay attention!"
- "...she put a cheeseburger on layaway!"
"Yo' momma's so stupid..."
- "...she sits on the T.V. and watches the couch!"
- "...it takes her 2 hours to watch 60 Minutes!"
- "...she thinks Tupac Shakur is a Jewish holiday."
- "...she went hungry in an all-you-can-eat buffet."
"Yo' momma's so bald, you can see what she thinkin'."
"Yo' momma's such a bad cook..."
- "...she still makes radio dinners."
- "...she lost her recipe for instant coffee."
- "...we pray after we eat."
- "...your dog says, 'Barf, barf!'"
"Yo' momma's like..."
- "a straw: she likes getting sucked on."
- "a TV: anyone can turn her on."
- "a doorknob: everyone gets a turn."
- "a roller-coaster: everyone gets to ride her."
- "a vacuum cleaner, she sucks, blows, and gets laid in the closet."
"Yo' father..."
- "got no legs so he shops at Just Shirts!"
- "has no arms and bought a vest"
"Yo' sister's so ugly..."
- "...when she was born, yo' grandmomma said, 'What a treasure! Let's go bury it.'"
- "...she scares away blind people!"
- "...she makes blind kids cry."
- "...the bears built a fire to keep her away."
"Yo' sister's like a..."
"Yo' brother's so..."
- "...stupid, he was fired from the M&Ms factory for throwing away all the "W"'s!"
- "...fat, he raced a pregnant woman and came in third!"
Snaps may also exaggerate a persons body part such as:
- "...Your nose is so big you pick your boogers with boxing gloves."
- "...Your lips so big your mouth looks like a cheeseburger."
- "...Your penis is so small you have to masturbate with a pair of tweezers."
See also
References
- Mona Lisa Saloy (2005-11-15). "Still Laughing to Keep from Crying: Black Humor". Louisiana Folklife Festival booklet.
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