main man, noun phrase

/ˈmeɪn man/
Forms:
Also mynman.
Plurals:
main manne /ˈmeɪn ˈmanə/.
Origin:
English, Afrikaans, U.S. EnglishShow more English main chief + Afrikaans man man, guy; perhaps adaptation of U.S. English main man best friend, hero.
colloquial
An important or dominant person (usually male); a man who has an exaggerated sense of his own importance; bra sense 3; broer sense 6; main ou; ou noun sense 4 b. See also breker, man noun2 sense 1.
1970 Forum Vol.6 No.2, 27‘That ou’s just thinking he’s a mynman,’ replied the drunk and added, ‘Kriste, he mustn’t start with me.’
1972 M. Develin on Radio South Africa 25 Jan.That ou schemes he’s like a mainman. (That gentleman considers himself to be a big cog in a small machine.)
1982 J. Allan in Sunday Times 6 June (Mag. Sect.)Face-to face with one of the ‘main manne’ over a road house menu...So you see, what better place to interview the main man than at a roadhouse?
1983 Frontline Sept. 50Frank Sinatra, Lisa Minelli, Linda Ronstadt, George Benson, Mike Weaver, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl..these are all main manne, and how.
1983 Daily Dispatch 7 Nov. 1While ministers and main manne speeched and speeched and speeched in the corrugated iron-roofed barn, you could see the mampoer drinkers a mile away.
1986 H. Prendini in Style May 43Piepiejoller is a word that crops up often among the over-15s and seems to refer to anyone under 15. The opposite end of the scale are the main manne, South African version of big deal.
1989 Cape Times 4 Sept. 6Don’t hold your demo just after 4 pm when all the main manne in the police are on their way home and cannot be phoned. It really delays things.
1994 Radio South Africa 10 Oct.You always get the guys who argue, ‘Let’s do this, let’s do that’, you know, the main manne.
An important or dominant person (usually male); a man who has an exaggerated sense of his own importance; bra sense 3; broer sense 6; main ou; ou noun sense 4 b.
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19701994
mailer, nounn.main ou, noun phrasen. phr.
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