If you cheer for the underdog, you are probably shouting for someone who is not likely to win. It can be a sports team or an individual in a match of some kind.
The term originated in the late 19th century and referred to a dogfight where the dog that lost was the “underdog.” The beaten dog is usually underneath the winning dog, hence the term.
In American movies, one of the most famous underdogs was Rocky Balboa, who faced and overcame impossible odds to become the world heavyweight champion against Apollo Creed. Another great underdog movie is the story of Rudy, only five feet six inches and weighing 200 pounds, who became a walk-on and famous football player for Notre Dame.
There is something about cheering for the underdog that can make us feel good. Maybe we have been underdogs ourselves and can therefore relate to the poor character.
The opposite of the underdog is the “top dog,” the victorious one. He (or she) is the one in charge, whether in school, sports, aviation, or as the President of the United States or some other country.
In a famous top dog book, and later movie, terrorists threaten to blow up San Diego, but cop Jake Wilder and his dog team up to eventually win.
There are around 100 top dog movies, and you can find the top 10 of all time rated and listed on the Internet. As far as I can tell, there is no such list for the top underdog movies, although The Karate Kid, Rocky, Rudy, Hoosiers, and Slumdog Millionaire may qualify.
But what if there is no underdog or top dog? We lived in a village in the Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea, and the boys loved to play soccer, sometimes with an inflated pig’s bladder for their “ball.” If one team got too far ahead of the other, the game would sometimes be halted until the losing team was given a member or two of the winning team. As a result, soon, the game would be tied, and everyone would be happy—more or less. The goal was to play but not to win to such an extent that it would force loss and shame on either team.
We don’t play that way in our American society and culture. "The one with the most toys wins" is an idiom claiming that the person who has the most material possessions or money is considered the "winner." It is a focus on materialistic values and disregards happiness or fulfillment as equal to wealth.
There are top dogs and underdogs in the Bible. For example, Lazarus was an underdog, who had to fend for scraps of food from the rich man’s table, like a dog, so he was a clear underdog. But, unlike in the movies, he became a top dog and the rich man the underdog. This is but another example of “The Upside-Down Kingdom.”
As mentioned, “the one with the most toys” means the person who accumulates the most material possessions or wealth and should be considered the "winner" in life. However, it most often implies a focus on materialistic values and a disregard for other aspects of happiness or fulfillment.
We refer to dogs a lot in our idiomatic speech. I can be “sick as a dog” or “dog tired” or even “work like a dog,” but I don’t think I really want “a dog’s life”, which refers to miserable or unhappy existence.
“Every dog has its day,” is another saying and it implies that it doesn’t matter. A person may think he or she is the top dog or the underdog. According to the old philosopher, it is useless to think that way because “After all, the same fate awaits human beings and animals alike. One dies just like the other.” (Ecclesiastes 3.19).
If someone is showing off, the person might be called a “hot dog,” although such an individual may be “all bark and no bite.” The man or woman way be as “mean as junkyard dog” and, if so, it might be a good idea to “let sleeping dogs lie.”
There are some uncomplimentary views of people compared to dogs in the Bible as well. Consider that “A fool doing some stupid thing a second time is like a dog going back to its vomit,” (Proverbs 26.11) or “Look at what the king of Israel is trying to kill! Look at what he is chasing! A dead dog, a flea!” (I Samuel 24.14.
Both underdogs and top dogs have fleas, so that is doubly nasty!
Karl Franklin
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