The REAL Double Dog Dare You!!!!

We Put it in WIKIPEDIA for Jerry!

I could not find your definition of the Double Dog Dare on your website. Mine is below. See what you think, Jerry Longden, Santa Rosa, CA.

Dares have several levels of seriousness and challenge.

But there is no more powerful dare then the Double Dog Dare. And contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as a triple dog dare, except for total boneheads.

In my childhood, there was no more powerful dare then the Double Dog Dare. A standard dare was always pretty tough and mostly reserved for girls. However, if you really wanted to challenge someone's nerve you would give them a Dog Dare. Dog Dares were usually used for bullies, braggers and older brothers to measure their actual sand.

However, far and away, the most powerful dare was, and remains, the Double Dog. The Double Dog Dare was always a special category of dare and never used unless extreme serious business was intended, because most people could not back down from a Double Dog Dare. Not accepting a Double Dog Dare meant you were a complete chicken and not worthy to live in the neighborhood, and definitely not anybody you would want to take cruising with you on Friday night. Those not accepting a DDD immediately received "The silent treatment" and were temporarily banished from our block and the Tether ball court.

Simply stated, you had to be careful how you used the Double Dog Dare because of its power and long term implications. If a DDD was issued with lots of pals around, silence would immediately fall upon the group in anticipation of an answer from the recipient of the DDD. It was always very serious business and a tense, exciting moment. Many lived in fear of receiving a DDD because of not being able to live it down if they could not meet the dare. However, if you fulfilled a DDD, your reputation was immediately improved and status elevated. Satisfactory DDD completion was rare.

Of course, this was all in fun and we never wanted to hurt anyone. But the system of "Dares" was a good way to break ice and help move along the timid. I still occasionally use a DDD, but only in obvious fun situations to razz my terminally wimpy pals into action.