The Man

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This article is about the phrase. For other uses, see The Man (disambiguation).

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"The Man" is a slang phrase that may refer to the government or to some other authority in a
position of power. In addition to this derogatory connotation, it may also serve as a term of
respect and praise.
The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe oppression. The
phrase "stick it to the Man" encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means "fight
back" or "resist", either passively, openly or via sabotage.[1]

Contents
[hide]

 1History
o 1.1Use as praise
 2See also
 3Notes
 4References

History[edit]
As a phrase meaning "the boss" it dates from at least 1918.[2]
In the Southern U.S. states, the phrase came to be applied to any man or any group in a position
of authority, or to authority in the abstract. From about the 1950s the phrase was also
an underworld code word for police, the warden of a prison or other law enforcement or penal
authorities.
The use of this term was expanded to counterculture groups and their battles against authority,
such as the Yippies, which, according to a May 19, 1969 article in U.S. News and World Report,
had the "avowed aim ... to destroy 'The Man', their term for the present system of government".
The term eventually found its way into humorous usage, such as in a December 1979 motorcycle
ad from the magazine Easyriders which featured the tagline, "California residents: Add 6% sales
tax for The Man."
In present day, the phrase has been popularized in commercials and cinema. It was featured
particularly prominently as a recurring motif in the 2003 film School of Rock.[3] The
film Undercover Brother had as a plot element a fictional organization headed by "The Man", an
actual man in charge of oppressing African Americans.[4]
Use as praise[edit]
The term has also been used as an approbation or form of praise. This may refer to the
recipient's status as the leader or authority within a particular context, or it might be assumed to
be a shortened form of a phrase like "He is the man (who is in charge)."
In more modern usage, it can be a superlative compliment ("you da man!") indicating that the
subject is currently standing out amongst his peers even though they have no special
 designation or rank, such as a basketball player who is performing better than the other players
on the court. It can also be used as a genuine compliment with an implied, slightly exaggerated
or sarcastic tone, usually indicating that the person has indeed impressed the speaker but by
doing something relatively trivial.

See also[edit]
 Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four)
 New World Order (conspiracy theory)
 Ruling class
 The Establishment
 Power elite

Notes[edit]
1. Jump up^ "stick it to the man". AllWords.com (English Dictionary - With Multi-Lingual Search).
2. Jump up^ "Online Etymological Dictionary entry for "Man"". Etymonline.com. Retrieved 2014-08-
04.
3. Jump up^ "School of Rock (2003)". IMDb.
4. Jump up^ Leonard, David J (2006). Screens Fade to Black: Contemporary African American
Cinema. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 169–170.

References[edit]
 Lighter, J.E. (Ed.). (1997). Random House Dictionary of American Slang. New York: Random
House.
Categories:
 English-language slang
 Stock characters
 English-language idioms
 Pejorative terms for people
 Military–industrial complex
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 This page was last edited on 3 March 2018, at 23:30.

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