Whatever its origin it has come to signify an unpleasant human trait which more or less equates with the jealousy of success.

The expression "cut down to size" and "taken down a peg or two" suggests that the successful person has got "too big for their own boots" and invited the setback by becoming swollenheaded.

But the tall poppy expression is more ambiguous.

A while back Australians - who are said to have originated the phrase - hotly debated the issue. It could be argued that it reflected an independent spirit which scoffed at cant and cared little for authority and traced its roots back to the nation's convict beginnings.

But there was - and perhaps still is - a negative side of egalitarianism in a country which prides itself that no man or woman is better than any other.

This, when taken to an extreme, despises the successful however legitimate their achievement. Strange this in a nation that idolises it sporting stars who by definition stand out from the crowd.

The tall poppy syndrome is at work in the UK.

Is there something in the often-quoted description of the supposed reactions between Americans and Brits on seeing a luxury car in that the former would love to own it and the latter to scratch it?

I hope not.

But I have never understood how soccer stars salaries - which can be astronomic - rarely attract controversy.

Yet those in the top flight of the business world, who can be responsible for thousands of jobs and billions of pounds of tax revenue, are regularly singled out for what they earn rather than what they achieve.