man, my

   In this expression ‘my’ is used condescendingly rather than in its usual friendly way. There is a tacit assumption that the speaker is of a higher social rank than the person addressed, or in a position to give that man orders. In Our Mutual Friend, by Charles Dickens, the landlady of the Six Jolly Fellowship Porters tells Riderhood: ‘I am the law here, my man, and I’ll soon convince you of that, if you doubt it at all.’ In Compton Mackenzie’s Whisky Galore we have: ‘“Look here, my man, don’t try to be funny with me,” Major Quiblick snapped.’ In Diamonds are Forever, by Ian Fleming, James Bond deliberately uses the expression to someone who is temporarily acting as a chauffeur, but who certainly does not consider himself a menial: ‘“Thank you, my man,” said Bond cheerfully, and had the satisfaction of seeing the smile vanish as the driver turned and walked quickly away.’ The vocative is sometimes expanded to ‘my good man’, but this remains both condescending and rather old-fashioned.