They may not have the easiest ride in life, enduring accusations of inferiority complexes and jokes at their expense, but it appears short men will have the last laugh after all.
Scientists have found evidence that they are likely to live longer, with those under five foot two having a greater chance of surviving to old age.
A study has shown that adult men under five foot two live longer than their taller rivals, with one researcher explaining: "The taller you got, the shorter you lived."
His team, at the University of Hawaii, found that shorter men were more likely to have a protective form of the longevity gene, FOXO3, leading to smaller body size during early development and a longer lifespan.
Dr Bradley Willcox, from the Department of Geriatric Medicine, said researchers had split people into two groups: those who were five-foot-two and shorter, and five-foot-four and taller.
"The folks that were five-foot-two and shorter lived the longest," he said. "The range was seen all the way across from being five-foot tall to six-foot tall. The taller you got, the shorter you lived."
He added: "This study shows for the first time, that body size is linked to the FOXO3 gene.
The study involved more than 8,000 American men of Japanese ancestry born between the years 1900 and 1919.
The lifestyles and health conditions of these men were closely followed and studied by the researchers through the years.
Around 1,200 men from the study, published in the journal Plos One, lived into their 90s and 100s, and approximately 250 of those men are still alive today.