Learn English – What does “Show me a sore loser, and I’ll show you a loser” mean

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In the book Crippled America by Mr. Trump, chapter 5: Education: A failing Grade. Mr. Trump quoted:

The school taught you how to be a leader. It taught you, 'show me a sore loser, and I'll show you a loser.'…

I don't understand what the sentence: 'show me a sore loser, and I'll show you a loser.' means. If 'I'll show you a loser' –> who is the loser I will show?

Best Answer

This is based on a common type of phrase:

Show me a {description A} and I'll show you a {description B}

where the implication is that "If you bring me something that meets description A, I will be able to show you something that meets description B, because anything that meets description A also meets description B".

One example (from quick googling) is:

Show me a man with a tattoo and I'll show you a man with an interesting past

which means "All men with tattoos have interesting pasts."

So, from Trump's example we have that anyone who is a sore loser:

a person who becomes very upset or angry when he or she loses a game, contest, etc.

is also a loser:

    • a person or thing that loses especially consistently
    • a person who is incompetent or unable to succeed; also

    • something doomed to fail or disappoint


Interpreting the phrase "show me a sore loser, and I'll show you a loser" is difficult, however. It could mean:

Someone who has just lost and has justifiably got angry about it is still someone who has just lost

which implies "any failure is a failure, however you take it. i.e. any failure is bad".

Alternatively you could take Trump's phrase to mean:

"anyone who gets upset when they lose is someone who is unable to succeed".

Flipping this around, I interpret the phrase as meaning:

In order to succeed you have to learn to cope with the times that you fail


Side note:

My googling for similar phrases suggests that a much more common form of the phrase is "Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser", which is pretty close to the first interpretation above of Trump's phrase. It implies that any failure is a failure, and there is nothing to be gained by learning to cope with failure.