# Poll: Better fighter? 42 midgets or an African Lion. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 17, 2005, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-better-fighter-42-midgets-or-an-african-lion/304284 "2005-05-17T19:14:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-better-fighter-42-midgets-or-an-african-lion/304284/1 "2005-05-17T19:14:08Z")
[Spoiler link](http://www.ltlf.co.uk/bbcnews.htm) Now, THAT, my friends is a sport. I’m moving to Cambodia. We’re barely allowed to fight two roosters against each other. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-better-fighter-42-midgets-or-an-african-lion/304284/2 "2005-05-17T19:16:43Z")
I think the midgets would win. Chances are he would choke to death on the first midget, or if not, get so tired out from eating midgets the rest of them could easily finish him off. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-better-fighter-42-midgets-or-an-african-lion/304284/3 "2005-05-17T19:21:17Z")
This is so not funny. This is unjust and barbaric and cruel to animals, and derogatory and making fun of people of short height. …I can’t help it, I’m laughing anyways. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-better-fighter-42-midgets-or-an-african-lion/304284/4 "2005-05-17T19:21:56Z")
> [@](#): > > The Cambodian Government allowed the fight to take place, under the condition that they receive a 50% commission on each ticket sold, and that no cameras would be allowed in the arena. I wonder how much money they made.The fight was called in only 12 minutes, after which 28 fighters were declared dead, while the other 14 suffered severe injuries including broken bones and lost limbs, rendering them unable to fight back.Aw. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-better-fighter-42-midgets-or-an-african-lion/304284/5 "2005-05-17T19:30:01Z")
That is the most bizarre thing…Is this real? I feel like this might happen on bizarro world, but here on earth? Is this legit? I feel whooshed and if it isn’t a whoosh then I don’t know how to feel… ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-better-fighter-42-midgets-or-an-african-lion/304284/6 "2005-05-17T19:31:39Z")
Strangely enough, someone just e-mailed me the same article in the last 20 minutes. And I think we’ll all breathe a little easier knowing it is FAKE: [http://lionvs40midgets.tripod.com/](http://lionvs40midgets.tripod.com/) ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-better-fighter-42-midgets-or-an-african-lion/304284/7 "2005-05-17T19:31:49Z")
My money would have been on the midgets. I mean they can be viscous little buggers at times. Two or three grab each of the lion’s legs and they should have him weighed down enough to prevent much movement. Then a few more leap on top, and that should bring him down. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-better-fighter-42-midgets-or-an-african-lion/304284/8 "2005-05-17T19:37:11Z")
The over/under was 27.5 Cambodian midgets dying. They had to let it go one for one more minute. I will fess up that I was kind of suckered by the story. I didn’t think “midget” was appropriate anymore. I also was upset over the lack of detail. . .were the midgets armed? How do you actually provoke a lion into fighting midgets, etc. etc.? ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-better-fighter-42-midgets-or-an-african-lion/304284/9 "2005-05-17T19:49:09Z")
Cover the midgets with sloppy joe? Pluck the lion’s whiskers like a harp, Bugs Bunny-style? Have the midgets dress it up in a sailor suit, complete with a little hat to Velcro onto its mane, and then take turns riding it? ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-better-fighter-42-midgets-or-an-african-lion/304284/10 "2005-05-17T20:52:37Z")
[pet peeve]Midget=not acceptable. Little people or dwarves (if you must) please. [/pet peeve] ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-better-fighter-42-midgets-or-an-african-lion/304284/11 "2005-05-17T21:01:06Z")
Alexei Panshin has a group of schoolkids face off against a tiger in his novel **Rite of Passage**. To tell the truth, I thought that it seemed farfetched and maybe the teachers were doing their part to reduce school overcrowding. But matbe now I’ll have to rethink that. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-better-fighter-42-midgets-or-an-african-lion/304284/12 "2005-05-17T23:20:05Z")
> [@ITR champion](#): > > My money would have been on the midgets. I mean they can be viscous little buggers at times. Two or three grab each of the lion’s legs and they should have him weighed down enough to prevent much movement. Then a few more leap on top, and that should bring him down. Yes, it’s their very viscosity which makes them so difficult to fight from a lion’s perspective. It’d be like trying to fight a barrel of molasses. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-better-fighter-42-midgets-or-an-african-lion/304284/13 "2005-05-18T04:03:33Z")
In the Wilbur Smith novel “The Sunbird,” there’s a section about where an African leader tells his people to attack a hippo. At first the hippo starts making mince-meat out of them, but there are thousands of the natives, and they eventually overcome him. (Well, it was just a novel.) Also the leader of the lost city of Opet is called the “Gry-Lion.” So there’s a word that sorta starts with “gry”. ---
**Author:** ![Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stark_Raven_Mad)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-better-fighter-42-midgets-or-an-african-lion/304284/14 "2005-05-18T04:09:40Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > [pet peeve]Midget=not acceptable. Little people or dwarves (if you must) please. [/pet peeve] Does it have some sort of negative connotation? I recall reading somewhere that it’s a medical term. ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-better-fighter-42-midgets-or-an-african-lion/304284/15 "2005-05-18T06:00:50Z")
Batman, if he’s prepared …what? ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-better-fighter-42-midgets-or-an-african-lion/304284/16 "2005-05-18T06:44:26Z")
I vote for the midgets. Especially if it’s the Fierce Midget Pirates of Willygoat. They **are** known for gutting many and leaving few alive, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-better-fighter-42-midgets-or-an-african-lion/304284/17 "2005-05-18T10:07:09Z")
> [@Earl Snake-Hips Tucker](#): > > IAlso the leader of the lost city of Opet is called the “Gry-Lion.” So there’s a word that sorta starts with “gry”. Gryphon ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-better-fighter-42-midgets-or-an-african-lion/304284/18 "2005-05-18T13:36:37Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > [pet peeve]Midget=not acceptable. Little people or dwarves (if you must) please. [/pet peeve] [pet peeve]Dwarfs. Dwarves don’t exist outside of Middle-Earth[/pet peeve] ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-better-fighter-42-midgets-or-an-african-lion/304284/19 "2005-05-18T14:09:10Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > [pet peeve]Dwarfs. Dwarves don’t exist outside of Middle-Earth[/pet peeve] I don’t think you’re correct about that. Both are acceptable. Unless you’re saying “my lexicographic skill dwarfs yours.” ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-better-fighter-42-midgets-or-an-african-lion/304284/20 "2005-05-18T14:22:02Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > I don’t think you’re correct about that. Both are acceptable. > > Unless you’re saying “my lexicographic skill dwarfs yours.” Tolkien’s foreword to _The Hobbit_ does not agree with you. Agreed about the third person singular present indicative of the verb “to dwarf”, though. 🆒 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-better-fighter-42-midgets-or-an-african-lion/304284.md?page=2)