The English Oracle

Is there a single-word replacement for the phrase "friendly verbal duel"?

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Chapters
00:00 Is There A Single-Word Replacement For The Phrase &Quot;Friendly Verbal Duel&Quot;?
00:37 Answer 1 Score 58
00:52 Answer 2 Score 35
01:15 Accepted Answer Score 33
01:57 Answer 4 Score 7
02:36 Answer 5 Score 5
03:50 Thank you

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Full question
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ANSWER 1

Score 58


A word with this connotation is banter:

an exchange of light, playful, teasing remarks; good-natured raillery. - dictionary.com




ANSWER 2

Score 35


noun: repartee

conversation or speech characterized by quick, witty comments or replies.

synonyms:

banter, badinage, bantering, raillery, witticism(s), ripostes, sallies, quips, joking, jesting; formal persiflage

"an evening of wit and repartee"

-- Google




ACCEPTED ANSWER

Score 33


When people spar[verb] (or have a spar[noun]) over some topic, they have a friendly argument.

Phelps invited Ted Frederickson, associate professor of journalism, to a spar on the issue of "homosexuals and the military".

Phelps invited Ted Frederickson, associate professor of journalism, to spar over the issue of "homosexuals and the military".

ODO:

spar
NOUN

1 A period or bout of sparring.

‘Remembering the spars she had had with the brothers, she smiled.’

VERB

[NO OBJECT]
1.1 Argue with someone without marked hostility:
‘mother and daughter spar regularly over drink, drugs, and career’




ANSWER 4

Score 7


A bit esoteric, yet apt, is the word dialectic, which Aristotle referred to as the counterpart to rhetoric.

A dialectic is an informed discussion on any given topic which involves, among other things, verbal sparring; defining of key terms and appropriate qualifications for those terms; arriving at either a breakthrough or an impasse.

Persuasion is certainly on the fringes of a dialectic, but the guiding purpose of a true dialectic is to arrive at what might be called a transcendent view which incorporates the insights of all the participants, yet allows for modifications and refinements of, and amendments to, its tentative conclusions.