Chapter Man of December to Manfred of M by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Man-of-War (A). A Government fighting-ship. The term is not now often used.
   Man-of-war, or, Portuguese man-of-war. The nautilus.

“Frank went to the captain and told him that Tom had given him leave to have the man-of-war if he could get it.”- Goulding: Adventures of the Young Marooners, 17.

   Man-of-war bird. The frigate-bird.

Man of Wax A model man; like one fashioned in wax. Horace speaks of the “waxen arms of Telephus,” meaning model arms, or of perfect shape and colour; and the nurse says of Romeo, “Why, he's a man of wax” (i. 3), which she explains by saying, “Nay, he's a flower, i' faith a very flower.”

Man of Whipcord (A). A coachman. The reference is to his whip.

“He would not have suffered the coachman to proceed while the horses were unfit for service. ... Yet the man of whipcord escaped some severe ... reproach.”- Sir W. Scott: The Antiquary, i.

Manche (French). Aimer mieux la manche que le bras. Cupboard love. Manche is a slang word; a gratuity given to a cicerone cabman, or porter. It is the Italian buona mancia.
   Jeter le manche apres la cognée. To throw the helve after the hatchet. To abandon what may be useful, out of caprice, because a part of what you expected has not been realised. A horse is stolen, and the man, in ill-temper, throws away saddle and bridle.

Manchester The first syllable is the Friesic man (a common); and the word means the Roman encampment on the common.

Manchester Poet Charles Swain (1803-1874).

Manciple (A). A purveyor of food, a clerk of the kitchen. Chaucer has a “manciple” in his Canterbury Tales. (Latin manceps, mancipis.)

Mandamus (Latin). A writ of King's Bench, commanding the person named to do what the writ directs. The first word is “Mandamus” (We command ...).

Mandana A stock name in heroic romance, which generally represents the fate of the world turning on the caprice of some beautiful Mandana or Statira.

Mandarin' is not a Chinese word, but one given by the Portuguese colonists at Maca'o to the officials called by the natives Khiouping (3 syl.) It is from the verb mandar (to command).
   The nine ranks of mandarins are distinguished by the button in their cap:- 1, ruby; 2, coral; 3, sapphire; 4, an opaque blue stone; 5, crystal; 6, an opaque white shell; 7, wrought gold; 8, plain gold; and 9, silver.

“The whole body of Chinese mandarins consists of twenty-seven members. They are appointed for (1) imperial birth; (2) long service; (3) illustrious deeds; (4) knowledge; (5) ability; (6) zeal; (7) nobility; and (8) aristocratic birth.”- Gutzlay.

Mandeville (Bernard de). A licentious Deistical writer, author of The Virgin Unmasked, and Free Thoughts on Religion, in the reign of George II.

Mandousians Very short swords. So called from a certain Spanish nobleman of the house of Mendosa, who brought them into use. (See Swords.)

Mandrabul From gold to nothing, like Mandrabul's offering. Mandrabul, having found a gold-mine in Samos, offered to Juno a golden ram for the discovery; next year he gave a silver one, then a brazen one, and in the fourth year nothing. The proverb “to bring a noble to ninepence, and ninepence to nothing,” carries the same meaning.