To the editor:

I have vague memories of the phrase “Prove it!” being a popular response in neighborhood spats among my childhood cohorts back in the '60s. It became a phrase that we threw around to express frustration at not knowing what else to say. I am not sure any of us really thought about its meaning. “You’re a sissy” was certainly met with “Prove it!” probably even the fuller version, “Oh yeah?... Prove it!”, which may have been accompanied by raised fists. If in response to “You are going to get in trouble, then "prove it" took on more of a threat equivalent to “You’d better not be the one to tell.”

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