One-upmanship
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One-upmanship is the systematic and conscious practice of making one's associates feel inferior and thereby gaining the status of being "one-up" on them, as described by Stephen Potter in his tongue-in-cheek self-help books, and in film and television derivatives from them.
One of his examples is being first up after dinner the first night of a weekend as guests in the country, clearing the table and washing dishes while assuming no one will assist; this is presented as a cynical imitation of generosity, that enables the one-upman to loaf unreservedly for the rest of the weekend, while everyone else, out of guilt and embarrassment, does all work that remains.
One-upmanship and Gamesmanship purport to teach "ploys" for this.
The 1960 film "School for Scoundrels" extends these ideas to "Woomanship", meaning the art of manipulative seduction of women by men. Measures include
- demoralizing or showing up rival suitors,
- double-edged remarks like "This may sound terribly Victorian of me, but if you'd rather i go to my car while you change clothes, i'll understand", and
- challenges to the woman's self-image like "Oh, i don't know, it's just that a woman looks so, ... well, sexless, in a man's bathrobe."
Both the books and the film make reference to Yeovil (the location of eponymous school of the film).