Dozen = racial slur?

[sha_lyn]

The term "the dozens" refers to the devaluing on the auctionblock of slaves who were past their prime, who were aged or who, after years of back-breaking toil, no longer were capable of hard labor. These enslaved human beings often were sold by the dozen

tinkerbell27...... I bet that is it. Where did you find the info? The mom is the mother of one of the girl's in DD's scout troop. We've all been trying to figure it out since thursday.

 

[BillSears]

I was once accused of trying to cheat an AA clerk at Taco Bell once because I ordered a half a dozen tacos.

Me-I'd like a half a dozen soft tacos.
Him-How many?
Me-A half a dozen...six.
Him-If you wanted six why didn't you say six. Are you trying to cheat me?
Me-Sorry, I'll take six...

 

[Liberty Belle]

I looked it up and found the acronym BUN means Big Ugly N-.

I haven't heard it personally, but it is derogatory .... ????

Whoa! Be careful what you say in the bread aisle.

 

[tiggersmom2]

Very good

She's a dough - nut.

Imagine, if the customer had said "I'll take a dozen doughnut holes," and the offended lady though she had said dozen doughnut ho's.

 

[ADisneygirl]

Wow ~ that's about all I can say to this. What a nut.

 

[JoeEpcotRocks]

found this .......



dozens 62 up, 8 down

Playing the dozens is an African-American custom in which two competitors -- usually males -- go head to head in a competition of comedic trash talk. They take turns "cracking on," or insulting, one another, their adversary's mother or other family member until one of them has no comeback. In the U.S., the practice can be traced back to chattel slavery, when violence among slaves was a property crime with potentially draconian consequences. Verbal sparring became a substitute for physical contention. While the competition on its face is usually light-hearted, smiles sometimes mask real tensions.

The dozens can be a harmless game, or, if tempers flare, a prelude to physical violence. But in its purest form, the dozens is part of an African-American custom of verbal sparring, of "woofin'" (see wolf ticket) and "signifyin'," intended to defuse conflict amicably, descended from an oral tradition rooted in traditional West African cultures. The dozens is a contest of personal power -- of wit, self-control, verbal ability, mental agility and mental toughness. Defeat can be humiliating; but a skilled contender, win or lose, may gain respect.

"Yo' mama," a common, widely recognized argumentative rejoinder in African-Amercan vernacular speech, is a cryptic reference to the dozens.

The term "the dozens" refers to the devaluing on the auctionblock of slaves who were past their prime, who were aged or who, after years of back-breaking toil, no longer were capable of hard labor. These enslaved human beings often were sold by the dozen.

Wow and sad.

I hope that's not where the saying, "cheaper by the dozen," came from.

 

[Becky2005]

Whoa! Be careful what you say in the bread aisle.

That's what I'm thinking as I read this thread. The grocery store just got a whole lot more dangerous. Who knew? Between the dozen eggs and hamburger/hot dog buns -- It would have never even crossed my mind that it would be offensive to anyone talking about food that I'm sitting there reading the package of.

 

[Amlee]

I was once accused of trying to cheat an AA clerk at Taco Bell once because I ordered a half a dozen tacos.

Me-I'd like a half a dozen soft tacos.
Him-How many?
Me-A half a dozen...six.
Him-If you wanted six why didn't you say six. Are you trying to cheat me?
Me-Sorry, I'll take six...

Too FUNNY!

 

[Amlee]

That's what I'm thinking as I read this thread. The grocery store just got a whole lot more dangerous. Who knew? Between the dozen eggs and hamburger/hot dog buns -- It would have never even crossed my mind that it would be offensive to anyone talking about food that I'm sitting there reading the package of.

Just don't go asking for the Honey Buns!

 

[tinkerbell27]

I found it in Urban dictionary. Search for 0ne dozen.
kelly

 

[Dakota_Lynn]

This whole thing made me think of the "15 things to do at Walmart while your spouse is shopping" joke that is going around the Internet. I think that woman was playing with you by taking an innocuous word and pitching a royal fit over your using it in public. I bet she and her best friend laughed their butts off at you as soon as you were outta sight! Omg, that's the only explaination I can think of anyway! Either that of she truly is crazy! Here's the joke I'm referring to. I can certainly imagine how this could give people ideas...I mean, it certainly gave me ideas....just don't tell anybody I admitted it!

15 Things to do at Wal-Mart while your spouse/shopping partner/significant other is taking his/her sweet time:

1. Get 24 boxes of condoms & randomly put them in people's carts when they aren't looking.
2. Set all the alarm clocks in housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.
3. Make a trail of tomato juice on the floor to the rest rooms.
4. Walk up to an employee and tell him/her in an official tone, 'Code 3 in housewares,'...and see what happens.
5. Put M&M's on lay away.
6. Move a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.
7. Set up a tent in the camping department and tell other shoppers you'll only invite them in if they bring pillows from the bedding department.
8. When a clerk asks if they can help you, begin to cry and ask 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?
9. Look right into the security camera and use it as a mirror while you pick your nose.
10. While handling guns in the hunting department ask the clerk if he knows where the anti-depressants are.
11. Dart around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the theme from 'Mission Impossible'.
12. In the auto department practice your Madonna look using different size funnels.
13. Hide in the clothing rack and when people browse through say 'PICK ME! PICK ME!!!!!!'
14. When an announcement comes over the loud speaker assume the fetal position and mumble 'It's those voices again'.
15. Go into a fitting room and yell real loudly 'Hey! We're out of toilet paper in here

 

[shortbun]

Kelly-that's good information and very interesting.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

I think people like that just go around looking to get offended at anything and everything.

 

[TheRatPack]

Maybe she heard what was said wrong? Was she wearing a hearing aide?

Truly...one of those mysteries we might never comprehend LOL

 

[hentob]

I could be wrong here, but this sounds like someone looking for trouble. This is a perfect example of why this country will never get over the issue of race relations. There are people out there who look for this and will eat it up ever chance they get.

VERY well said

 

[delilah]

This is why I try to stay out of Walmart (seriously). I had a similar unpleasant encounter, also with an African American woman who happened to be in front of me in the check out lane, which, at the time, was the only lane open. (This was several years ago in Gainesville, Florida). She went off on me because I started to unload my cart after she had unloaded hers, but before the cashier had finished ringing her order. There was a dividing bar separating our orders, and space between them, besides. She went on and on about how rude I was, and couldn't I see that she wasn't done paying yet, and how I thought I was more important than she was, her money spent the same as mine, Yackity Yack, Yada, Yada, Yada. I agree it must be some type of one-sided racial slur problem. Every week, I go to Meijer three miles from where I live, and a 90% caucasian neighborhood, and do just exactly what I did in Gainesville, and never have I had so much as a dirty look.

 

[golfgal]

Great, now we will have to come up with a PC word for dozen. Someone needs to find something really important to worry about.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

If it's the "playing the dozens" thing that set her off, she ought to yell at Sherman Helmsley and Robert Guillaume as well. I remember them playing the dozens several times on "The Jeffersons" and "Benson."

BillSears, I have to give you credit. If that had happened to me, I'd have walked out. Not just because the cashier didn't know that half a dozen and six were the same thing, but accusing you of trying to cheat him??? I'd have walked out or called a manager.

 

[dis ms.]

WTH?! Never heard of this dozen thing. The only thing offensive to me about a dozen buns is that the number of buns never matches up to the number of hotdogs in a package.

This is why I try to stay out of Walmart (seriously). I had a similar unpleasant encounter, also with an African American woman who happened to be in front of me in the check out lane, which, at the time, was the only lane open. (This was several years ago in Gainesville, Florida). She went off on me because I started to unload my cart after she had unloaded hers, but before the cashier had finished ringing her order. There was a dividing bar separating our orders, and space between them, besides. She went on and on about how rude I was, and couldn't I see that she wasn't done paying yet, and how I thought I was more important than she was, her money spent the same as mine, Yackity Yack, Yada, Yada, Yada. I agree it must be some type of one-sided racial slur problem. Every week, I go to Meijer three miles from where I live, and a 90% caucasian neighborhood, and do just exactly what I did in Gainesville, and never have I had so much as a dirty look.

What does this story have to do with the woman being black? She was obviously crazy -- regardless of her skin color -- so I don't see the point of bringing it up unless she accused you of being racist or something. If so, you didn't mention that in your story.

I once watched a kid take a tube of mini m&m's off the shelf and start eating them while his mom was paying for her groceries. When the mom finally noticed, she just took the half-eaten candy, handed it to the cashier and walked away. Now, that's crazy. She was white, by the way.

See my point?

 

[Tybug]

Oh my... I think this woman has some serious issues!