In the slang popularized by movies such as Clueless, "Baldwin" is a term girls used to refer to a highly attractive, visually delicious, crush-material male.
The term is derived from the surname of four actor brothers who were blessed with good genes.
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| L-R. Alec Daniel Stephen William. |
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| Alec Stephen William Daniel. Nice hair, Billy. You really aren't helping me make my point. |
Guys who aren't quite unbelievably hot but are otherwise good-looking are simply called "cute".
However, the polar opposite of a baldwin is a "Barney" - a disgustingly unattractive, loserly guy.
The term might have come from the purple dinosaur, or from Fred Flintstone's best friend, but it's most likely from the guy in The Simpson's.
A Barney doesn't necessarily have to be ugly. He might have something cute about him but is rendered generally unlikeable by the discriminate female populace due to some factor, such as disgusting hygiene, deplorable social skills or a slacker lifestyle.
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| Travis in "Clueless" was tagged by the heroine as a Barney. |
Barneys always have the option of bettering themselves to get the girl, though it's quite impossible for a person to go from bottom-level Barney to grade-A Baldwin.
And a word of caution to Baldwins: All Baldwins - even actual Baldwins - have a "best before" date.
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| Here they are in a more recent but not-quite-current photo nicked from Tumblr. William Stephen Alec Daniel. |
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