Manlius Torquatus. The Roman Consul Manlius received his surname “Torquatus” through having wrested the golden torque or collar from his adversary on the field of war.
Mannheim. German for “the home of men.” Until the Elector Palatine Frederick IV. built a castle here, and a town grew up around it in the seventeenth century, this was a village of refugees from religious persecution in the Netherlands.
Man of Kent. A native of the county of Kent east of the Medway.
Man of Ross. The name given by Pope to John Kyrle of Ross, Herefordshire. See “[Kyrle Society].”
Man of Straw. One who, having nothing to lose, descends to mean practices for gain, well knowing that his victims rarely go to the expense of entering a prosecution against him, since they cannot obtain damages. This term was derived from the hangers-on at the Westminster Law Courts, who were ready to swear anything at the instruction of counsel for a bribe. They were known by displaying a wisp of straw in their shoes. If another witness was required while a case was being heard, counsel generally sent out to look for “a pair of straw shoes.”
Man-of-War. This term is a popular abbreviation of man-of-war ship--i.e. the floating home of a man-of-war’s-man. Our national prestige has from time immemorial been dependent on the supremacy of the seas, therefore an English sailor, more than a soldier, was regarded by our ancestors as a fighting man. Since the introduction of ironclads, however, it has become the custom to speak of a floating battery as a war vessel or battleship, and a sailor as a bluejacket.
Mansard Roof. After its inventor, François Mansard, the French architect of the seventeenth century.
Mansfield Street. From the town mansion of the Earls of Mansfield, which stood here.
Mansion House. Expresses the “house of houses,” the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London, the representative in the city of the King, whose flag proudly waves in the breeze from the roof.
Mantua. A lady’s cloak or mantle, originally introduced from the Italian city of this name.