man of the people
English
Pronunciation
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Noun
man of the people (plural men of the people)
- (idiomatic) Usually of a celebrity or political leader: one who shows understanding of and sympathy for the concerns of ordinary people, and who has a rapport with and acceptance by them.
- 1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, chapter XVI, in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC, pages 202–203:
- He could hang about a bar-room, discussing the affairs of the nation, for twelve hours together; and in that time could hold forth with more intolerable dulness, chew more tobacco, smoke more tobacco, drink more rum-toddy, mint-julep, gin-sling, and cocktail, than any private gentleman of his acquaintance. This made him an orator and a man of the people. In a word, the major was a rising character, and a popular character, [...]
- 1873, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], Charles Dudley Warner, chapter XIX, in The Gilded Age: A Tale of To-day, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company, published 1874, →OCLC, page 184:
- Colonel, you are the man, you could influence more votes than any one else on such a measure, an old settler, a man of the people, you know the wants of Missouri; [...]
- 1911, Anna Katharine Green, “A Concession”, in Initials Only, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, →OCLC, book II (As Seen by Detective Sweetwater), page 134:
- Besides, I am a man of the people. I like the working class, and am willing to be thought one of them.
- 1981 July 27, Serge Schmemann, "Adulation Grows after Death of Soviet Folk Hero Vysotsky," New York Times (retrieved 16 Oct 2013):
- It was the story of a man of the people who made good and kept his integrity, who understood the people and could make them laugh and cry.
- 2008 Feb. 28, Simon Robinson, "Working on the Railroad: On the Mangala Lakshadweep Express," Time (retrieved 16 Oct 2013):
- He is adored by millions as a man of the people because he is of a lower caste — a rarity among politicians.
- Coordinate term: woman of the people
Translations
one with understanding of ordinary people
See also
References
- “man of the people”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.