h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In the US, when the target of Name Calling changes from the person being attacked to that persons relatives, it is called "Playing the Dozens."

The term goes back to the days of slavery in the States, and refers to the practice of selling slaves that were undesirable in some manner by the dozen.

When slavery was abolished, the young snipes would insult each other - as children often do - and one of the more popular insults of the day was to refer to the victim's relatives as part of a group sold by the dozen.

I forget the title, but there is actually a book that is called dozens or something similar, that has a whole bunch of 'your momma' jokes, ie "your momma's so fat, she fell down and broke her leg and gravy poured out'". I degenerated into a giggling fool in the middle of a bookstore while I was reading it.

ive always been a big fan of dozens and thought it would be interesting to meet people that shared the same interest

I'm changing the subject but i like the attention. The weirdest insult is when a scally/townie/prep knows you've beaten them in an arguing match and walks off saying 'goth' under their breath but loud enough for you to hear it. An then i'm all like 'yeah so i'm a goth- scally'. Just weird.

For anyone over the age of 20, go onto human behaviour, misanthropy, american teenage stereotypes and after you've read that, read the posting, 'this could save your life' which is a fine piece of work my the anonomous author. RULE ANARCHY.