Anything you can do, I can do better?

My immediate association is a bunch of little kids trying to outdo each other.
Everyone can do something better than someone else, and vice versa, sooo, no need for one upmanship IMO.

I thought of Bugs Bunny. Wasn’t there a cartoon where Bugs and Yosemite Sam sing that song? No, you can’t. Yes, I can. No, you can’t. Yes, I can.

“I can do anything better than you.”

It’s a flirt song for me, and I never take it seriously. It’s just for bragging. Of course, anyone who brags is actually saying the opposite. If you feel you have to say you are better, it can only mean you aren’t as good. If you were better, there would be no need to say it. Everyone would know.

It always amazes me when people take bragging claims as if they have any merit. Do some people actually believe it when someone claims to be better? My feeling is that you have to prove it. If you feel a need to say it, it means you don’t think you can prove it. If you can prove it, then you really don’t have to say it, do you?

No, you can’t.

My immediate association? Annie Oakley, in Annie Get Your Gun.

I just register those words as a boastful challenge that doesn’t necessarily mean anything.

It reminds me of the obnoxious variety of feminists.

Yes, I can. Yes, I CAN. YES, I CAN.

The Strengths-Finder description of:

Competition
Competition is rooted in comparison. When you look at the world, you are instinctively aware of other people’s performance. Their performance is the ultimate yardstick. No matter how hard you tried, no matter how worthy your intentions, if you reached your goal but did not outperform your peers, the achievement feels hollow. Like all competitors, you need other people. You need to compare. If you can compare, you can compete, and if you can compete, you can win. And when you win, there is no feeling quite like it. You like measurement because it facilitates comparisons. You like other competitors because they invigorate you. You like contests because they must produce a winner. You particularly like contests where you know you have the inside track to be the winner. Although you are gracious to your fellow competitors and even stoic in defeat, you don’t compete for the fun of competing. You compete to win. Over time you will come to avoid contests where winning seems unlikely. Source

Punching the nose of an arrogant upstart?

Reminds me of how Xena is constantly kicking ass. :) I mean, even when her legs are broken, or when she’s dead she’s still beating the crap out of everyone.

Also; me, anyone, Street Fighter Alpha 3; come at me bro.

Ethel Fuckin’ Merman Baby!!
That’s what I think.

Impossible. Everything I can do, someone else can do better.
It’s okay. I can do a lot of things pretty well and I’m thankful for that, but there are people who devote their lives to doing those things better. Sometimes it makes me feel like a dilettante, but I think I’d be frustrated if I had to limit myself to one specialty in order to make myself the best.