African American Portal

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2007)

"The Dozens" is an element of the African-American oral tradition in which two competitors, usually males, go head to head in a competition of often good-natured, ribald "trash talk", more widely known as "Yo Momma Fights". They take turns insulting--"cracking", "west coast dissin'," or "ranking" on--one another, their adversary's mother or other family member until one of them has no comeback. This is called playing the Dozens or doin' the Dozens, and sometimes dirty Dozens, The Dozens is a contest of personal power--of wit, self-control, verbal ability, mental agility and mental toughness. Each putdown, each "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. Image File history File links AmericaAfrica. ... For other uses, see Father (disambiguation). ... Languages Predominantly American English Religions Protestantism (chiefly Baptist and Methodist); Roman Catholicism; Islam Related ethnic groups Sub-Saharan Africans and other African groups, some with Native American groups. ... An insult is a statement or action which affronts or demeans someone. ... The roots of hip hop can be found in 1970s block parties in New York City, specifically The Bronx[1]. Hip hop culture, including rapping, scratching, graffiti, and breakdancing. ...

The Dozens can be a harmless game, or, if tempers flare, a prelude to physical violence. While the competition, on its face, is usually light-hearted, smiles sometimes mask real tensions. But in its purest form, the Dozens is part of an African-American custom of verbal sparring, of "woofin'" (see wolf ticket) and "signifyin'," intended to defuse conflict nonviolently, descended from an oral tradition rooted in traditional West African cultures. The phrase wolf ticket is the result of a misunderstood African-American slang expression for the practice of verbal intimidation, sellin (or passin out) woof tickets, that was incorrectly transposed by whites. ...

"Yo' momma," a common, widely recognized argumentative rejoinder in African-American vernacular speech, is a cryptic, and sometimes comical, allusion to the Dozens.

History of the Dozens

The term "the Dozens" is believed to refer to the devaluing on the auction block of slaves who were past their prime, who were deformed, aged or who, after years of back-breaking toil, no longer were capable of hard labor. These enslaved human beings 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.".^[1]

An alternate history of the name is that the word "dozen" has nothing to do with the number twelve; that it is a modern survival of an Engish verb--"to dozen"--dating back at least to the fourteenth century and meaning "to stun, stupefy, daze" or "to make insensible, torpid, powerless." The object of the game is to stupefy and daze with swift and skillful speech.

Kokomo Arnold, one of the most popular American blues musicians of the 1930s, released a song, titled 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. Kokomo Arnold (15 February 1901–8 November 1968) was an American blues musician. ... Blues music redirects here. ... Alternative hip hop (also known as alternative rap) is a genre that is defined in greatly varying ways. ... The Pharcyde is a rap group from the West coast of the United States. ...

In 2004, the Wayans Brothers, comedians Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, and Damon Wayans, released The Dozens, a Dozens game for mobile phones. The movies White Men Can't Jump, 8 Mile, and House Party include exchanges of snaps. In addition to that, the MTV "reality-TV" series Yo Momma, which stars Wilmer Valderrama (of That 70's Show fame) is entirely focused around coming up with "the Dozens" to say to an opponent. Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Wayans Brothers are a group of American comedians who are brothers. ... Keenen Ivory Wayans (born June 8, 1958 in New York City, New York) is an American actor, comedian, director and writer best known as the host and creator of the FOX sketch comedy series In Living Color, which also starred Jim Carrey, Jamie Foxx, his brother Damon Wayans, David Alan... Shawn Wayans (born January 19, 1971 in New York City, New York) is an American actor and comedian who starred in In Living Color and The Wayans Bros. ... Damon Kyle Wayans (pronounced WAYNES) (born September 4, 1960) is an American stand-up comedian, writer, and actor who began his career as a stand-up comic in 1982. ... White Men Cant Jump is a 1992 feature film starring Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes as basketball hustlers. ... 8 Mile stars Eminem (Marshall Mathers) as the young white rapper Jimmy Smith Jr. ... This article is about the event. ... This article is about the original U.S. music television channel. ... Reality television is a genre of television programming in which the fortunes of real life people (as opposed to fictional characters played by actors) are followed. ... For insult duels, see the dozens. ... Wilmer Valderrama (born January 30, 1980) is a Venezuelan-American comic actor best known for the role of Fez in the sitcom That 70s Show and as the host of the MTV series Yo Momma. ... That 70s Show logo That 70s Show is a Fox Network television sitcom centered around the lives of a group of teenagers living in the fictional suburb of Point Place, near Green Bay, during the late 1970s. ...

Similar practices in other cultures

Historically, similar verbal competitions were practiced in other cultures. Ancient Germanic cultures, including the Norse and Anglo-Saxons, practiced a ritual exchange of insults known as flyting, which is similar in function to the Dozens. In sixteenth-century Scotland, the term flyting was used to describe an exchange of abusive poems by poets. Arabian poets exchanged creative insults in naqa'id, a practice continued in the zajal verbal jousting of present-day Lebanon. Also comparable is the Trinidadian tradition of picong. Flyting is a contest of insults, often conducted in verse. ... This article is about the country. ... For other uses, see Arab (disambiguation). ... Trinidad (Spanish, Trinity) most commonly refers to the larger island of the nation Trinidad and Tobago, the subject of this article. ... Light comical banter, usually at someone elses expense. ...

In William Shakespeare's England, insult competitions were common, with professional experts who were known as "roarers." Ben Jonson, a contemporary of Shakespeare, wrote a comedy, The Roarer, about a foppish young man who hires a roarer to teach him the art so that he can best his wife-to-be in arguments. Some aspects of insults are discussed in the essay Lars Porsena, or the Future of Swearing and Improper Language by the English poet Robert Graves. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

Outside of insult contests, the phrase "your mom" is also used as an insult or general retort. Mother insult is a reference to a persons mother through the use of phrases such as your mom, ur mom, yer mum, ya mum, or yo mama, frequently used to insult the target by way of his or her mother. ...

The Dozens in comedy

Aside from the Wayans Brothers with their Dozen sketch on In Living Color, comedian-actor Eddie Murphy often based his stand-up routines on a reversal of the Dozens, whose purpose was boasting about one's own self rather than insulting someone else. Examples of this can be found in his known comedy albums, Comedian, Delirious, and the soundtrack to the film Eddie Murphy Raw. Other examples of the Dozens in reverse, from other comedians, can be found in the cable TV program Def Comedy Jam, which was a production of Def Jam founder Russell Simmons's company. The Wayans Brothers are a group of American comedians who are brothers. ... In Living Color is a sketch comedy television series which ran on the FOX Network from April 15, 1990 to May 19, 1994. ... For other uses, see Eddie Murphy (disambiguation). ... For the documentary about Jerry Seinfeld, see Comedian (film). ... This article is about the Christian rock band. ... Eddie Murphy Raw (1987) is an American stand-up comedy film directed by Robert Townsend and starring Eddie Murphy. ... Def Comedy Jam is a HBO television series produced by hip-hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons. ... Def Jam Recordings is an American based hip-hop record label that operates as a part of The Island Def Jam Music Group, which is owned by Universal Music Group. ... Russell Simmons (born October 4, 1957 in Queens, New York), is an American entrepreneur and record producer. ...

References

Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

Look up Your mom in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Avoidance speech (mother-in-law languages)
• Call and response
• Extempo
• Insult swordfighting
• Roast (comedy)
• Mother insult
• Wolf ticket