No, Barney is a womanizer AND a cliche. You don't have to pick just one.

"He is a sociopath"

He's a social idiot. Sociopath is taking it a bit far.

If, as a culture, we're going to continue to be so obsessed with labels and name-calling, we need to damn well use words properly. Obviously, when someone misuses a term, it results in an argument, and that's pretty much the state of the world right now. We argue with each other over everything and accomplish nothing.

Scott is not a womanizer. Bill Clinton did say it best because he was answering a question truthfully in response to the way it was asked and not the way it was intended. Not his fault he's smarter than the people asking him the questions. When being critical of Scott Pilgrim's behavior, you can say Scott treated the women in his life poorly without having to label him a womanizer. There are even plenty of hyperbolic terms which could fit the situation without stretching all the way to a new word with an established definition which doesn't fit the truth of the situation.

But none of them did. And that's why it's funny. Also, a womanizer wouldn't do that because they would get women to have casual sex with them without mentioning the casual nature of the sex. 3 isn't many. 3 is "a few." And they're all women he had previously dated. I think. The whole casual sex journey was supposed to teach Scott the lesson that he still loves Ramona and needs to stop screwing around and fight for her. Because he's NOT a womanizer.

"But Terence, the meaning of words change all the time."

No, they don't. Words get used incorrectly and they become slang terms. The meaning is still the same, but there is now an alternate type of usage. When you use a slang term, you have to be prepared for people not knowing what the hell you're saying. If everyone just used words they way they are defined, we wouldn't have this problem. You can't just change the term "womanizer" to mean what you want it to mean. Well, you can, but you can't expect people to agree with you because it doesn't fit the established definition. Look, I can argue with you all day about language. You won't win because I won't give up. For example, gay still means happy. It doesn't mean homosexual or bad. Homosexual means homosexual. It's a word created specifically to describe that sort of relationship. Use it.

"Maybe change womaniser to man-whore and you'll have a more accurate description of Scott."

Not even close. Man-whore still fits Wallace and not Scott.

Man, it'd be nice to get this kind of traffic over at the forums!? I guess we need to discuss Rulk and Scott Pilgrim more often! ;)

Brandon, womanizers don't have to brag to their friends or even do what they do intentionally. And all women hook up with womanizers willingly...otherwise we're talking about rapists, not womanizers.

You've got Barney Stinson in your head as the definition of a womanizer and that's only the cliche type. What Scott does to Knives & Kim is even worse since he doesn't even seem to realize they have feelings that can be hurt.

If he bragged about it to his friends after the fact it'd be one thing, but he's too caught up in himself to see anything otside his own immediate bubble.

The women who hook up with Scott do so of their own volition, be it naiveté, insecurity, revenge or sheer boredom.

Doesn't matter why he did it....his treatment of them for speaks for itself.

"It depends on what the meaning of the words 'is' is." –Bill Clinton, during his 1998 grand jury testimony on the Monica Lewinsky affair

Not only that but the meaning of the words can change depending on the emotional experience of the person speaking. Is looking at a beautiful woman too long as she passes by cheating? My wife would say so but Adam's probably wouldn't.

*knocked for 2 yard loss, kicks dirt in your face as I walk back to the huddle*

Hold on a second, you mean like in Vol. 6 when he asks three different women to have casual sex with him in the space of about 10 pages? I actually would say Book-Scott is not a womanizer, but your Merriam-Webster definition, if we're going to go by that, kind of seals it against your agruement.