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this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2025
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We call this "cutting tall poppies" in Australia.
I've always appreciated this story as an explanation for anyone who finds the concept foreign.
https://www.naturalhistorymag.com/htmlsite/editors_pick/1969_12_pick.html
Tall poppies is about criticising people who are boastful and self-aggrandising, not mocking people for wearing clothes they like.
(Your link doesn't load for me so I don't know if it directly contradicts me, my statement is based on my local understanding with confirmation from Wikipedia)
I think it could be argued that wearing ostentatious and expensive clothes is a type of self-aggrandisement. Wear something flashy into any local pub in country NSW and you'd get the exact same reaction as above.
Sounds about right. If there is one thing that'll get you taken the piss out of, it's trying to think you're special. Dear gods you can't live in Ireland without a thick skin or a sense of banter. I do miss it dearly.
"The nail that sticks out the most get's hammered first"
Crab bucket
I'd say it's a different set of values but maybe that's just my cultural perspective.
Tall Poppy is more about egalitarianism and modesty, where standing out or flaunting status too much is discouraged.
Whereas crab bucket is seen as being rooted in envy, jealousy, or a fear of losing status or position.
So in other words Tall Poppy is just Crab Bucket that can't admit to themselves what they are doing.
"We want you to stay down in the bucket with us for egalitarianism!"
Yeah, wearing something nice to the local pub is not, in its self, self aggrandization. Wearing the things you like, is just that, wearing things you like. Now, if you make it a point show-off that you are wearing designer brands, talk about not wanting to look poor, making remarks, like these poppy cutters, to people for having a more budget conscious wardrobe, etc. then you are self aggrandizing.
If you are simply wearing nice clothes to day-to-day stuff, and otherwise acting normally, you are just wearing things that make you happy. The people who are "cutting the tall poppies" are just doing to you, what fashion snobs would do to them. They even have similarly lame excuses "What? I am just pointing out what people could be doing to look better, which makes people treat you better, and makes you happier" vs "What? I am just pointing out that this person is being a pompous ass, which makes people think worse of them, and that they could fit in better, which will make people treat them better".
Exactly.
It's also applied to creativity a lot. Tall poppy syndrome can take the form of shitting on anyone who wants to do something different.