Reader question:

Please explain "scrubs" in this sentence: Trump's enemies are scrubs.

My comments:

Donald Trump, that is, President of the United States. Trump will say something like that, that all his enemies are scrubs, or lowlife, or losers or failures or scumbags.

Maybe not scumbag. That is a long word. Trump likes big words, big and short but not long words. Anyway, Trump is that type of person, you know. He likes to bully and belittle other people, especially women. He likes to brag about the fact that he's the president and "you are not". "I'm rich" is also something on his lips quite a lot. "I have nicer houses...nicer everything."

Yeah, sure.

Little wonder that Trump's enemies are all scrubs, a derogative term for people who are not good at what they do and therefore are contemptible.

Scrubs have the same or similar linguistic roots as shrubs, which are small trees, tree-like bushes, really, tree-like but not as tall and definitely not as magnificent.

Not at all.

The verb form of scrub is the action by which we clean, say, the bath tub. You scrub and scratch to get dirt and old grease off the tub.

So, as you may infer, scrub referring to a person also has dirty connotations.

Yeah, dirty and insignificant probably sum up the scrub as a person. He or she is not someone you want to associate with. They are not successful in any way and therefore insignificant. They are unimportant. Nobody respects them.

In American slang, second-string players on a team are often called scrubs. Needless to say, they are not very good skill-wise - otherwise they'll have made the starting line-up.

The starting line-up, of course, consists of players who represent the team at the start of each game, players who get to play heavy minutes and play regularly. Second-string players or second-tier player or scrubs play sporadically, mostly as replacements, or substitutes or when one of the starters gets injured. Scrubs sit on the bench and they sit on the bench so much that they're sometimes called, fittingly, bench players.

All right, you get the point. Here are media examples of people being referred to as scrubs, a derogative term to be sure:

1. Nowadays we date with the same caution because there are scrubs out there who prey on everyday business women, who have everything in place except for their love life. Then comes the impostor partner, who is really the guy that ends up “crashing at your place for a few days,” trying to seduce his way into a live-in position. Employment, or lack thereof, is the focal point of most of the signs that your man is a scrub. Fellas, if you’re presently without work you may want to skip this read and surf the classifieds. But the rest of you scrubs don’t worry, we’ll try not to rip you too hard.

* He is in “transition.”

Sistas hate to hear that dreaded word, which translates to unemployed. If a man says he’s in “transition” then he has no job and more than likely can’t name a profession, skill or trade that he’s practiced for more than 3 years, consecutively. If he is an able body and free of felony convictions, he should be working, end of story.

* He has no means of transportation.

Ladies, if the man has no car, this is more than likely his excuse for not having a job! This will also excuse his need to borrow your whip while you’re out working. If your man is driving your car around town from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., then he’s probably putting it down in intimate afterhours. Suggestion: Detach, somebody out there can do it better, and he may just have a job and a car.

* He has trouble explaining/verifying his living situation.

If you’ve been seeing a guy for more than 90 days and you have yet to be invited his place, you have a bona fide live-in ex situation. Run. Or, if your dude is squatting at various family members pads and can hardly remember where he last left his toothbrush and toiletries, not only is he a scrub, he’s a scrub with no direction. Run fast.

- How To Tell If Your Man Is A Scrub, HelloBeautiful.com, May 6, 2009.

2. Every team has that one player where everyone in the crowd holds their breath every time he takes a shot.

This player might be a star player on the team or just a bench scrub that can't find the rim.

Here is the worst shooter on every NBA team. By the way, this is a list of shooters.

Hence, guys like Shaquille O'Neal, who we know can't find the rim if he took 20-foot jumpers, are not on this list.

Atlanta Hawks: Jamal Crawford

Crawford may be a star player on the Hawks, but his numbers have declined immensely from his days on the Warriors. He averaged 14.2 points per game this year, down from 19.7 in 2008-09.

More importantly, on a team with relatively good shooters, he shot 42.7 percent from the field, making him the worst shooter on a good shooting Hawks team.

Boston Celtics: Glen Davis

One would expect a big like Big Baby Glen Davis to have a field goal percentage hovering close to 50 percent. However, Davis only had a shooting percentage of 44.8 percent this year.

Lifetime, his shooting percentage is at 45 percent.

On a side note, one would expect Rajon Rondo to be the worst shooter on the Celtics, but that's just perception, not reality. Rondo averaged 47.5 from the field and over 50 percent the year prior to that. He may not be the best shooter, but he's not terrible.

- Worst Shooter on Every NBA Team, BleacherReport.com, October 6, 2011.

3. Over the last few weeks in Impact, Moose set his sights on Rhyno and now has shifted his attention to Petey Williams. He talks about why his focus is on Williams when he joined The Wrestling Inc Daily.

"I think I've ran through all of the ECW legends so now it's time for me to do the same to the old TNA guys," Moose said before being asked why he isn't instead going after the Impact World Title, held by Tessa Blanchard.

"I don't wanna focus on a title right now because that wouldn't be a challenge. A woman has that title and I want a challenge. I could go the easy route and challenge for the World Title but how great is that if I beat a woman? I'm looking for a challenge and nothing against Tessa, but I am Moose. That wouldn't be a challenge. So I'm trying to challenge myself and make a point, so why not go after the old TNA guys like I did the old ECW guys?"

Moose is seemingly dismissing Tessa Blanchard as world champion and he expanded on his comments about her not being a challenge.

"I'm not saying she's not a deserving World Champion, she's just not a challenge for me," stated Moose. "It would be considered bullying if I challenged Tessa because I know I could easily win the World Title in less than 5 minutes. How great does that make me?"

He was then asked what it means to the credibility of the Impact World Title if he doesn't want to compete for it.

"Let me put it like this: if all the teams that Michael Jordan beat for his six title wins were all scrubs, do you think his legacy would be the same? If all the teams that Michael Jordan beat for his six title wins…if he swept all of those teams, would his legacy be the same? If I beat Tessa for the championship and become World Champion, would that make my legacy any bigger than what it is," asked Moose. "No, it wouldn't do anything for my legacy. I would have to hear stories, 'Oh, he's not a great World Champion because he beat a girl.' So I already know how people are gonna react if I go after the title and I wanna do something greater."

- Moose On Why He Does Not Want Impact World Title Match Against Tessa Blanchard, WrestlingInc.com, March 3, 2020.

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About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

（作者：張欣 編輯：丹妮）