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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 "roasting", "capping", "clowning", "ranking", "ragging", "sounding", "checkin", "joning", "woofing", "wolfing", "sigging", or "signifying",〔Lefever, Harry (Spring 1981). "Playing the Dozens": A Mechanism for Social Control, ''Phylon'', Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 73–85.〕〔Abrahams, Roger (July–September 1962). "Playing the Dozens", ''The Journal of American Folklore'', Vol. 75, No. 297, Symposium on Obscenity in Folklore, pp. 209–220.〕 while the insults themselves are known as "snaps".〔 James Percelay, Stephan Dweck, Monteria Ivey, (''Snaps: The Original Yo' Mama Joke Book'' ), William Morrow Paperbacks, February 18, 1994, ISBN 0688128963. Amazon.com. Retrieved 21 May 2001.〕〔(''Pimpdaddy's Yo Mama Snaps'' ). Retrieved 18 May 2012.〕 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 members—mothers in particular ("yo′ mama...")—are common. Commentary is often related to sexual issues, where the game is then referred to as the "Dirty Dozens".〔Chimezie, Amuzie (June 1976). "The Dozens: An African-Heritage Theory", ''Journal of Black Studies'', Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 401–420.〕 According to sociologist Harry Lefever and journalist John Leland, the game is almost exclusive to African Americans. Both males and females participate, but the game is more commonly played among males of varying social status.〔 Several theories have been put forth to explain why the game was developed. One hypothesis from 1939 suggests that the game formed as a way for African Americans to express aggression in an oppressive society that severely punished such displays against whites. Another theory from 1962 highlights how the game's focus on one's opponent's mother is a reflection of the dominance of females in African-American families and how young males may feel rejected by females and react accordingly. ==Origins== The first academic treatment of the Dozens was made in 1939 by Yale-based psychologist and social theorist John Dollard, who described the importance of the game among African-American males, and how it is generally played. Dollard's description is considered pioneering and accurate.〔Jordan, Larry (1983). "Social Construction as Tradition: A Review and Reconceptualization of the Dozens", ''Review of Research in Education'', Vol. 10, pp. 79–101.〕 The Dozens is a "pattern of interactive insult" evident among all classes of African Americans, among males and females, children and adults.〔Dollard, pp. 278–279.〕 Usually two participants engage in banter, but always in front of others, who instigate the participants to continue the game by making the insults worse. Frequently used topics among players who "play the Dozens" or are "put in the Dozens" are one's opponent's lack of intelligence, ugliness, alleged homosexuality, alleged incest, cowardice, poor hygiene, and exaggerations of physical defects, such as crossed eyes.〔 Dollard originally wrote that he was unaware of how the term "Dozens" developed, although he suggested a popular twelve-part rhyme may have been the reason for its name. He only speculated on how the game itself grew to such prominence. Other authors following Dollard have added their theories. Author John Leland describes an etymology, writing that the term is a modern survival of an English verb—"to dozen"—dating back at least to the fourteenth century and meaning "to stun, stupefy, daze" or "to make insensible, torpid, powerless".〔Leland, p. 173.〕 Amuzie Chimezie, writing in the ''Journal of Black Studies'' in 1976, connects the Dozens to a Nigerian game called ''Ikocha Nkocha'', literally translated as "making disparaging remarks". This form of the game is played by children and adolescents, and it takes place in the evening, in the presence of parents and siblings. Commentary among the Igbo is more restrained: remarks about family members are rare, and are based more in fanciful imaginings than participants' actual traits. In contrast, the game in Ghana, which is also commonly played in the evenings, insults are frequently directed at family members.〔 Amiri Baraka independently concluded that the dozens originated in Africa and states that they are a surviving adaptation of "African songs of recrimination." Author and professor Mona Lisa Saloy posits a different theory, stating in ''African American Oral Traditions in Louisiana'' that "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."〔Saloy, Mona Lisa, ("African American Oral Traditions in Louisiana" ), Folklife in Louisiana (1998). Retrieved November 12, 2009.〕 The origins of The Dozens can also be clearly seen in the Mande practice of Sanankuya, which involves the ritual and theatrical exchange of insults. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Dozens」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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