Well, that and the fact that virtually every guy I’ve ever seen using the phrase ‘beta males’ seriously was also giving off nigh-tangible “Hi, I cannot get laid” vibes.
Possibly true. But of course the other thing that could be described as a Beta male would be a certain perky mad scientist after a dose of gender-swap formula.
The entire concept of “alpha male” comes from a badly flawed experiment, where a group of unrelated wolves were thrown together in unpleasant captivity, and formed an ad-hoc pecking order. In a natural pack, “alpha male” is synonymous with “father”.
Ah, that’s not quite true. What you wrote is basically accurate for wolves specifically, but there are other species where the concept is correctly applied.
Chris is sadly proving that bravado does not equal true suave.
What he needs to remember is that he doesn’t /*need*/ a ping-pong ball number. He’s worked here for years, and actually crawled through the ventilation ducts on one occasion. He can get around the building and Tigerlily’s game and swipe the irradiator while the rest of them are still puzzling out the clockwork deathtraps. That would be true alpha maleness.
By definition, can’t there only be *one* alpha male in a given setting? Highlander rules, basically?
Chris’s belief that there can be more than one alpha male just proves that he isn’t the alpha male.
Which is why “beta male” doesn’t quite work as an insult. Betas are the big, tough lieutanant types just below the Alpha in the heirarchy.
Well, that and the fact that virtually every guy I’ve ever seen using the phrase ‘beta males’ seriously was also giving off nigh-tangible “Hi, I cannot get laid” vibes.
Possibly true. But of course the other thing that could be described as a Beta male would be a certain perky mad scientist after a dose of gender-swap formula.
Exactly. They should’ve gone with “omega males”… which actually sounds kinda cool.
That’s the one with Charlton Heston in it, right?
They should use “phi males” as an insult.
Well I don’t know what a “aspirated voiceless bilabial plosive” is, but it sure sounds rude.
All you need to do is read “phi male” out loud.
It would be an insult to both men and women. Men wouldn’t want to be called a “phi male”, and women wouldn’t want to be called any kind of male.
Depends on the species, actually. Then again, ethology only roughly applies to human behavior.
The entire concept of “alpha male” comes from a badly flawed experiment, where a group of unrelated wolves were thrown together in unpleasant captivity, and formed an ad-hoc pecking order. In a natural pack, “alpha male” is synonymous with “father”.
Ah, that’s not quite true. What you wrote is basically accurate for wolves specifically, but there are other species where the concept is correctly applied.
Ya mean, what with everything else, we also gotta play “Pong”??
“Sing a song, play some Pong, shoot a little pool…”
Winner is the rude dude who enters without the man’s pingpong ball!
Well yeah, I assumed that the pingpong balls were a test of squareness…
All the same, you wouldn’t really want to go there without Ira’s permission. That little bit of authority could be the only thing the guy has left.
Paging Ms. Divine.
Think he needs to take a few more puffs.
Trouble with that is too many, and he’ll be a spectator rather than a participant.
Is Artie going to turn up next?
Alpha male < Alfalfa male
Artie gets his alfalfa by mail?
Like Tip, he’s got a lot of wild oats to sow.
How ’bout Alfie Cobra? He’s already the alpha male of them—the only male, which makes him the alpha male.
Hey, for all we know The Dane could be Artie in disguise…
Remind Ira that you were invited, Chris. That big mechanical bird ought to back him up on that.
“Dane”… “Dave”… Think about it…
Chris is sadly proving that bravado does not equal true suave.
What he needs to remember is that he doesn’t /*need*/ a ping-pong ball number. He’s worked here for years, and actually crawled through the ventilation ducts on one occasion. He can get around the building and Tigerlily’s game and swipe the irradiator while the rest of them are still puzzling out the clockwork deathtraps. That would be true alpha maleness.
I’d make a joke about how the phrase “he does’t a ping-pong ball number” needs a verb, but it’d be kinda obscure for non-programmers.
Yes, that’s an obscure Comment.
I’m surprised that The Dane has number six, considering that he looks nothing like Patrick McGoohan…
Yeah, and come to think of it, he doesn’t really look Danish either. That does it, this man is a fraud! I’ll bet he’s not even a real “the”.