# Want authoritative definition of "double dare" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 28, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-authoritative-definition-of-double-dare/301606 "2005-04-28T20:06:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![houghton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3e96dc/32.png) [@houghton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/houghton)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-authoritative-definition-of-double-dare/301606/1 "2005-04-28T20:06:13Z")
By authoritative, I mean just that- Please cite an authority, like a dictionary, not “I always thought it meant…” or “In our school it always meant…”. This is NOT IMHO, so I don’t care about what you personally mean by it. For some reason, it doesn’t seem to appear in the on-line dictionaries and glossaries. ---
**Author:** ![odaran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e0b2c6/32.png) [@odaran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/odaran)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-authoritative-definition-of-double-dare/301606/2 "2005-04-28T21:07:46Z")
Daring someone to answer the question for 4 times the amount, can only be used after being dared. [http://mywebpages.comcast.net/doubledare/rules.htm](http://mywebpages.comcast.net/doubledare/rules.htm) > [@](#): > > “I’m going to ask you a question, if you don’t know the answer or think the other team doesn’t have a clue, you can Dare them to answer it for double the dollars. But be careful, because they can always \*\*Double Dare you back for four times the amount \*\*- then you either have to answer that question or take the Physical Challenge.” Bolding mine. Greatest kids gameshow ever. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-authoritative-definition-of-double-dare/301606/3 "2005-04-28T23:08:37Z")
And don’t forget the ultimate rejoinder to the double dare: the double _dog_ dare. ---
**Author:** ![Iluvatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/aca169/32.png) [@Iluvatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iluvatar)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-authoritative-definition-of-double-dare/301606/4 "2005-04-29T02:55:49Z")
From the Abridged Edition of the Dictionary of American Slang: v phr by 1940s To challenge provocatively: _The movie double-dared its audience to find sympathy in its dour or manic characters_ --Time/ …_I double dog dare ya to find out which three!_ --Toronto Globe and Mail [fr a boys’ response to “I dare you!”, “I _double dare_ you!”; _double dog dare_ is still higher defiance]. ---
**Author:** ![houghton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3e96dc/32.png) [@houghton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/houghton)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-authoritative-definition-of-double-dare/301606/5 "2005-04-29T03:01:55Z")
That’s interesting, but I was talking about the phrase, not a game show with the same name. (And we all know how little TV game shows stick to original rules, i.e., they don’t even try; the familiar name is just the hook.) While the TV show dates from the 70’s, the phrase is much earlier. There was a big band song in 1938 \*I Double Dare You \*/ by Terry Shand And Jimmy Eaton And a movie Double Daring (1926). I’d guess the phrase is much older than those. ---
**Author:** ![houghton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3e96dc/32.png) [@houghton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/houghton)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-authoritative-definition-of-double-dare/301606/6 "2005-04-29T03:03:23Z")
\*\*Iluvatar \*\* - Sorry, you posted while I was composing my answer. ---
**Author:** ![houghton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3e96dc/32.png) [@houghton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/houghton)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-authoritative-definition-of-double-dare/301606/7 "2005-04-29T03:12:13Z")
For some reason, I thought that the double was more than a simple intensifier, as in the Dictionary of American Slang version. Something on the order of “I dare you to do something, and if you won’t _then I will_.” The example would be to double dare someone (say an initiate to a group or gang) to do something outrageous. Knock off a policeman’s had, steal an apple as you passed the fruit stand, down a drink in one swig. The idea would be that the newcomer would have to do it, and if complaining it was impossible to be shown up.