[Snowflake] Loser

In 1950 in Harlem, New York City, a Black couple named their son Winner. Three years later, they had another son and named him Loser. No parent would give such a bad name to their child just to be wrong. It appeared to be triggered by the kind of playfulness specific to Daegu.* How did the lives of the two sons turn out? Loser became a police officer as his parents wished, while Winner became a convict who committed over 30 crimes. This example comes from a book about “geek economics.” Loser is a slang word for someone who is not treated well because of his poor appearance, lack of ability and lack of wealth, a word that should not be used carelessly because it is hurtful. For this reason, Loser’s success is greater, given that he is someone who would have been ridiculed and must have fought hard to avoid hearing that things happened because of his name.

In 2009, a female college student in Korea stirred up the nation by saying that men who were shorter than 180 centimeters (approximately 5 feet, 11 inches tall) tall are losers. Men were outraged and protested saying they had become a loser overnight. This was called the “Rebellion of the Losers.” Even after the program was abolished, various parodies emerged. Tom Cruise, 170 cm tall (approximately 5 feet, 6 inches), was known as “Tom C-Loser” and Napoleon, 168 cm tall, (approximately 5 feet, 5 inches) was known as “Loser-Leon.” The rankings were also subdivided into Gold Loser (178-179 cm or approximately 5 feet, 8 inches), Silver Loser (174-177 cm or approximately 5 feet, 7 inches to 5 feet, 8 inches), Bronze Loser (170-173 cm or approximately 5 feet, 5 inches to 5 feet, 6 inches) and Loser (170 cm or approximately 5 feet, 5 inches).

When President Donald Trump visited France in November 2018, he was informed about a scheduled visit to the cemetery of U.S. soldiers killed in World War I and said, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers” and said the Marines who lost their lives were “suckers” for getting killed. These remarks are a major negative for Trump ahead of the presidential election. The words of a politician are not only a measure of personality, but also of national prestige. Chinese historian Sima Qian said, “A word must be heavier than the weight of nine cauldrons.”

Trump reportedly evaded military service after he was drafted in the Vietnam War in the 1960s, securing a false medical deferment for bone spurs. Since he survived without being dragged to the battlefield, he would be a winner by his own standards. It remains to be seen whether Trump’s demeaning rhetoric will make him a loser in the upcoming presidential election.

*Editor’s note: Daegu is a city in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea.