[Ads-l] double/triple-dog dare

Sun Jun 30 23:01:27 UTC 2019

To my memory, triple-dog daring is before that and I didn’t see that film until the 90s or aughts but I have no actual memory of the expression being used.

Here’s an earlier citation than the movie:

Sketches in his own key
1 Oct 1981 (date verified at https://www.amazon.com/Sketches-his-own-key-John/dp/0883190583 <https://www.amazon.com/Sketches-his-own-key-John/dp/0883190583>)
Bob St. John

https://tinyurl.com/y26rte29 <https://tinyurl.com/y26rte29>
So one time near midnight we sat on the curb under the streetlight across from Kafuman Terrace and dared, double-dog dared, and even triple-dog dared each other to run up and knock on the door.

https://tinyurl.com/y683rlox <https://tinyurl.com/y683rlox>
It wasn’t the dares, even the triple-dog dares, that finally made me agree to do it but rather …

BB

> On 30 Jun 2019, at 15:03, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> Effectively could have been created by Jean Shepard, the genius behind the
> film.
> 
> Context suggests it was something drastic and previously unheard of, no?
> 
> JL
> 
> On Sun, Jun 30, 2019 at 5:38 PM Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> "Triple-dog dare" famously appears in the film, The Cristmas Story, a
>> nostalgic and comedic look at Christmas in the 1940s, shown annually on TV
>> dozens of times between Thanksgiving and Christmas in the US, sometimes as
>> a non-stop marathon all day on Christmas day.
>> 
>> https://youtu.be/qeJXYhdfR6Q
>> 
>> Get Outlook for Android<https://aka.ms/ghei36>
>> 
>> ________________________________
>> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
>> Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>> Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2019 12:40:31 PM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Subject: Re: double/triple-dog dare
>> 
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: double/triple-dog dare
>> 
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> 
>> In my day, before inflation, it was a "double-dog dare" that could not be
>> refused on pain of eternal humiliation. I've never heard of the triple-dog
>> variant.
>> 
>> JL
>> 
>> On Sun, Jun 30, 2019 at 2:36 PM Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> Not in the OED. I don=E2=80=99t see =E2=80=9Cdouble-dog dare=E2=80=9D in
>> =
>> the HDAS.
>>> 
>>> Merriam-Webster (
>>> https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/double-dog%20dare <
>>> https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/double-dog%20dare>) labels
>>> =E2=80=9Cdouble-dog dare=E2=80=9D as =E2=80=9Cchiefly South & Midland=E2=
>> =80=9D and doesn=E2=80=99t have the triple
>>> version. I have long been familiar with at least =E2=80=9Ctriple dog
>> dare=
>> =E2=80=9D and
>>> wonder whether the label is appropriate.
>>> 
>>> Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/double_dog_dare#English <
>>> https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/double_dog_dare#English>) has
>> =E2=80=9Cdou=
>> ble dog
>>> dare=E2=80=9D (verb cited to 1893, noun uncited) and an entry (
>>> https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/triple_dog_dare <
>>> https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/triple_dog_dare>) for the verb
>> =E2=80=9Ctr=
>> iple dog
>>> dare=E2=80=9D without citations.
>>> 
>>> As a nine-year-old just informed me, a triple-dog dare is a dare that
>>> cannot be refused, a requirement confirmed by the UD:
>>> 
>>> https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=3DTriple%20Dog%20Dare <
>>> https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=3DTriple%20Dog%20Dare>
>>> 1. DemonVampire180
>>> 17 Oct 2010
>>> 
>>> ***
>>> It is the ultimate dare. It's for when a person rejects a regular dare,
>>> AND a double dog dare. It is a dare that you HAVE to do under any
>>> circumstances. If you don't do it you look like a weakling or a chicken.
>>> I triple dog dared her to run around the house completely naked. She
>>> chickened out and to this day we don't let her live it down.
>>> 
>>> ####
>>> ####
>>> 
>>> 2. Rachael the Great
>>> 30 Sep 2004
>>> 
>>> ****
>>> Note: The infamous Triple-dog-dare is infamous for the sole reason that
>>> you cannot back down from it--without exception! An issued
>> triple-dog-dar=
>> e
>>> has no counteraction and must be implemented and/or carried out.
>>> Ever seen the movie "A Christmas Carol"? Enough said.
>>> ####
>>> ####
>>> 
>>> 3. Dubiks
>>> 7 Dec 2018
>>> 
>>> ****
>>> A way to get stupid people to do what ever you want.
>>> Me: "I want you to go clean out my toilet after that massive shit I just
>>> took."
>>> person: "No, I'm not doing that."
>>> Me: "I triple dog dare you."
>>> person: "Deal!"
>>> ####
>>> ####
>>> 
>>> I quickly searched for the noun and verb of =E2=80=9Ctriple dog dare=E2=
>> =80=9D and came up
>>> with the following two citations.
>>> 
>>> 4. Noun:
>>> https://tinyurl.com/y4p5l6n5 <https://tinyurl.com/y4p5l6n5>
>>> Loving an alcoholic: help and hope for significant others
>>> Jack Mumey
>>> 1985
>>> 
>>> ****
>>> =E2=80=A6 it got to a =E2=80=9Ctriple-dog-dare you,=E2=80=9D that was
>> _se=
>> rious_ stuff! Anyone who
>>> didn=E2=80=99t answer a =E2=80=9Ctriple dog dare=E2=80=9D threat couldn=
>> =E2=80=99t expect to save face ever
>>> again!
>>> 
>>> ####
>>> ####
>>> 
>>> 5. Verb
>>> https://tinyurl.com/yxttjdzd <https://tinyurl.com/yxttjdzd>
>>> Rocka-Good-Bye
>>> Molly Bass
>>> 18 April 1990 (date the play was performed)
>>> 
>>> ****
>>> I didn=E2=80=99t either, but Dillon triple-dog dared me and put two
>> doubl=
>> e-dog
>>> dares on top =E2=80=A6 and he gave me a dollar.
>>> 
>>> ####
>>> ####

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org