Short Man Syndrome

[Bill Bumface]

I'm super tall and I'm brutal at navigating crowds. I find smaller people, especially savvy middle aged women, are amazing at weaseling in front of me to get on a packed train or bus anywhere that social convention for lining up falls apart.

I also tuck my elbows to try minimize inadvertently elbowing people in the heads.

When I was a kid I got picked on a ton, as smaller, much tougher guys (I was and still am a wuss) would want to intimidate me to feel better about themselves.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by Kybosh

Yes he was. I believe the concept of him being a small man was primarily British propaganda during the Napoleonic wars.

Depends if he was 5'2" like listed, or if it was 5'6" like some believe he was. The latter may be about average for that place/time. 5'2" is real short for for pretty much any time

[topfiverecords]

Every time a tall guy makes fun of a short guy I just think about airplane seats.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

Depends if he was 5'2" like listed, or if it was 5'6" like some believe he was. The latter may be about average for that place/time. 5'2" is real short for for pretty much any time

From what I've read, the problem was three-fold:

1. At the time, an English inch and a French inch were not the same length (one reason why the French created the metric system to standardize things internationally). Napoleon was 5'2" by the French measure, but that was actually 5'7" under the English measure. The average French man was about 5'5" during Napoleon's time, so he was actually slightly taller than average.

2. As a General in the Army and leader of France, he was a target for both internal and external enemies, so he surrounded himself with the tallest members of his Army as bodyguards. As a result, when seen from a distance, he was much shorter than all the men around him.

3. The English didn't like him, so they spread the rumour that he was a short man who was trying to compensate for something.

[Vulcan]

I reached about 5'10" or so but I was always short as a kid and so got in a lot of fights just to protect my territory. By high school every one was taller than me even the girls so I found fighting wasn't a good idea anymore. I found an interesting situation was hanging around a friend who was 6'4" and about 280lbs. He'd pull some amazing a$$hole moves and mostly get away with them. He wouldn't pick on anybody in particular, he'd just dare people to react. I'd just sit back and watch.

[Hockey_Ninja]

I've known tall dudes with a Napoleon complex too. A lot of the shorter guys I know are actually some of the nicest people I know.

[corporatejay]

Most importantly, what is the height and weight of Peter12's girlfriend?

[Goodlad]

Originally Posted by Hockey_Ninja

I've known tall dudes with a Napoleon complex too. A lot of the shorter guys I know are actually some of the nicest people I know.

I've been accused of this in the past. I'm 6'2" 220 lbs, but come from a family of very large people. I'm the shortest and skinniest of the 5 boys in our family, and grew up with a lot of "runt" comments from siblings, so felt like I had to be more masculine to compensate. It's all stuff that I've worked out at this point in my life, but I did get into quite a few altercations when I was younger.

[pylon]

I think there is absolutely something to it. Not all the manlets I know are twitchy little balls of hate, but the ratio is definitely much higher than the normal sized or larger guys I know. Anger to them, is what lifted F350's are to dudes hung like hamsters. They would get lifted F350s too, but it's really hard to climb up into one when you are genetically impaired.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

[Diemenz]

Originally Posted by pylon

I think there is absolutely something to it. Not all the manlets I know are twitchy little balls of hate, but the ratio is definitely much higher than the normal sized or larger guys I know. Anger to them, is what lifted F350's are to dudes hung like hamsters. They would get lifted F350s too, but it's really hard to climb up into one when you are genetically impaired.

I also think there is something to it. I have two friends who are sub 5'8" and both of them display SMS regularly. A few drinks in and every single story is about how they saved the day with their manliness. Even in this thread you can see the anger coming out.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

I reached about 5'10" or so but I was always short as a kid and so got in a lot of fights just to protect my territory

Drugs, guns or prostitution?

[Caged Great]

One thing I have noticed is the commonality of people who ride motor cycles and those who can't touch the ground with both feet at the same time while riding it. Very rarely do you find someone over 6' that rides at least in my travels.

[peter12]

Man, politicians need to ditch that "no-tie" look.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by pylon

I think there is absolutely something to it. Not all the manlets I know are twitchy little balls of hate, but the ratio is definitely much higher than the normal sized or larger guys I know. Anger to them, is what lifted F350's are to dudes hung like hamsters. They would get lifted F350s too, but it's really hard to climb up into one when you are genetically impaired.

Manlet?

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by habernac

Manlet?

It's a wonder why SMS is even a thing.