Underdog is Meaning, synonyms, examples and interpretation

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Underdog is our today's object of study. Consider the history of the word, its translation, because it is a tracing paper from English, and examples.

Opening the English-Russian dictionary

A rare event. Usually we get by with an explanatory dictionary of the Russian language, but not now. The English word "underdog" is translated as follows:

• Outsider.
• Loser.
• Not a good candidate (when it comes to politics).

And here the reader thinks that the essence of the word "underdog" is clear to him - this is a simple bungler and simpleton. But this concept is not as simple as it seems. So let's move on from translation to origin.

History

The term came into use thanks to the organizers and participants of dog fights. In a similar way they called a dog that was clearly inferior to its rival. That is, the English translation into Russian is quite consistent with the meaning.

But there is one subtlety: outsiders sometimes won. The “fighter”, driven into a corner, showed remarkable strength, which he drew from the ability to concentrate his will, and defeated his opponent. An underdog is one who has an internal reserve, and therefore he is not just a loser.

Scenario about the notorious loserlike a winning Hollywood cliché. Stallone case

If the reader immediately remembers American action films, for example, with Jean-Claude Van Damme, then he will be right. Most of the film scripts with his participation describe the fate of the underdog, who, by the will of fate, found himself in a hopeless situation and was forced to attack. But not only be aggressive, but also learn, develop.

Sylvester Stallone is not far from his brother in the shop, because his Rocky is also a typical notorious outsider: a strange, uneducated, one might even say stupid, amateur boxer, but he got a chance to fight a professional, and he almost won. Hey underdog! This is the kind of movie that somehow gets remembered.

But few other than amateurs know that Sly himself is a great illustration. And this is already in a sense a business. Nobody knew Stallone before Rocky. In addition, for about 7 years he went to different film studios, no one hired him because of a physical illness: partial paralysis of the face. So the then young actor sat down and wrote the script for the movie that was his lucky ticket.

But that's not all. Stallone acted far-sightedly, setting the condition that he and no one else would star in the title role. How it all ended, the reader probably knows. In the language of cards, Sly's de alt cards were so-so, but he played his game brilliantly not only in the movies, but in life. Yes, he's a typical underdog and that's great!

Why is it better for a business to be an outsider?

This is a pretty simple question. In English, the antonym of the word underdog is overdog - this is a person who is already at the top, the master of the situation, the leader, the favorite. But he is constantly under pressure from circumstances and competitors. And the “dark horse” is good because no one is really interested in it, no one takes it seriously, which means that no one interferes with it or opposes it, and when the former loser has made it to the people, it’s too late to change something.

What does an underdog mean, what is its distinguishing feature? He doesn't scatter opportunities. A favorite or a leader can afford to be relaxed due to their position, an outsider - never! He is always alert.

To surprise the reader, let's say: the icon of the modern world, Steve Jobs, is a perfect example of a "dark horse". His path was thorny, and life is full of first falls, then ups. As a result, Jobs is now considered a genius. Now you can safely answer the question, what is an underdog, or rather, who, what is its distinguishing feature?

Psychological mechanism that creates a shadow leader

The author of the key that will help us discover this secret is Alfred Adler, the founder of individual psychology. He postulated that two forces create a person: an inferiority complex and a desire for superiority. The bridge between these two entities is the mechanism of compensation or hypercompensation. The first one differs from the second one in that compensation simply relieves tension, and hypercompensation forces a person to direct unreasonably large efforts to the target,which, however, leads to an outstanding result, but greatly depletes the body as a whole.

Let's give an example with the same Sylvester Stallone. When he was not hired due to partial paralysis of the lips, cheek and tongue, he used his intellectual abilities, thus compensating for the lack. But his epochal hero - Rocky used hypercompensation, because he, being blind in one eye, continued to train his body and eventually achieved an outstanding result.

Of course, the reader can say that Stallone is also not the last person in the world, but here the starting point should not be the final achievement, but only the efforts invested. And Rocky, if it can be compared at all, worked harder than his creator.

The ability to compensate for one's weaknesses by developing strengths or, on the contrary, to develop weaknesses is the key trump card of an underdog (the meaning of the word is already known to the reader). Overcoming is what creates an underdog who is about to become a leader.