Players | 2 or more |
---|---|
Playing time | None |
Chance | low |
Skills | creativity, embarrassment tolerance |
Truth or dare? is a mostly verbal party game requiring two or more players. Players are given the choice between answering a question truthfully, or performing a "dare". The game is particularly popular among adolescents and children, and is sometimes used as a forfeit when gambling.[citation needed]
History
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Questions_and_commands%3B_or%2C_the_mistaken_road_to_He-r-f-rd%3B_a_Sunday_evenings_amusement_by_James_Gillray.jpg/220px-Questions_and_commands%3B_or%2C_the_mistaken_road_to_He-r-f-rd%3B_a_Sunday_evenings_amusement_by_James_Gillray.jpg)
The game has existed for hundreds of years, with at least one variant, "questions and commands", being attested as early as 1712:
A Christmas game, in which the commander bids their subjects to answer a question which is asked. If the subject refuses or fails to satisfy the commander, they must pay a forfeit [follow a command] or have their face smutted [dirtied].[1]
Truth or dare may ultimately derive from command games such as the ancient Greek basilinda (in Greek: βασιλίνδα). This game is described by Julius Pollux: "in which we are told a king, elected by lot, commanded his comrades what they should perform".[2]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "E. Cobham Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1898". Archived from the original on 2013-06-03. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
- ^ "Joseph Strutt, Sports and Pastimes of the People of England, 1903". Archived from the original on 2017-07-14. Retrieved 2013-01-20.