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Is there anything more annoying than a picture of a dork on a step stool holding a Papier-mâché turtle? Yep. Just click on the image – I dare you. Actually, I was about to double dare you, but then I wondered about the origin of the phrase, and found this:
Chapman’s Dictionary of American Slang mentions it and dates it carefully as being current at least as far back as the 1940s. Many subscribers to this newsletter have long memories, so I’ve no doubt that they could take it back further without much effort. Jonathon Green, in the Cassell Dictionary of Slang, says it’s nineteenth century. He’s certainly right, since it’s listed in a book of 1896, The Child and Childhood in Folk-Thought by Alexander F Chamberlain.
Mr Chamberlain also mentions several other forms. As well as the immemorial I dare you, he gives I dog dare you, I double dog dare you, I black dog dare you, and the ultimate challenge that must surely have been impossible to pass up without appearing totally chicken, I double black dog dare you.
And after reading that, I double black dog dare you to stick around, because it’s time for The Overnight Open Thread.
Tags: black, dare, dog, double, etymology, Overnight Open Thread
