[Dixielandjazz] The Dirty Dozen

[David W. Littlefield]

It's often just called "the dozens". As I've had the opportunity to watch
it, it's an insult contest that starts more or less spontaneously.
Someone makes an off-hand jab at someone, the latter replies and
they may keep it going. If they're good at it, it keeps going, getting
more and more colorful and literate/poetic, folks pull their chairs around
to watch, and it's lotsa fun. The folks I saw were so good I wished I
could have recorded it; would have had a lifetime of material...

--Sheik

On Tue, 1 Oct 2002, Jerry Gordon wrote:

> "The art of hurling invective at one's enemies is an ancient one and
> American slaves probably brought the verbal exchange called "the dozens"
> or "dirty dozens" with them from Africa, basing it on the Tuareg and
> Galla game of two opponents cursing one another until one man lost his
> temper and began fighting with his hands instead of his mouth; he was
> considered the loser. Alive and thriving today among blacks,