The Man

"The Man" is a slang phrase, associated with the counterculture, used to describe higher authority. This "man" does not usually refer to a specific individual as such, but instead to the government, leaders of large corporations and other authority figures; its meaning is pejorative. The Man is colloquially defined as the person who controls our world, and who we will never meet. It is often used as a euphemism for racial oppression.

History

The original use of the term "the Man" in the sense above dates back to about 1918, when it was commonly used as a code word for the warden of a prison. In the South, and particularly in African-American slang, the phrase came to be applied to any man or group in a position of authority, or to authority in the abstract. The phrase was also an underworld code word for police or other law enforcement or penal authorities. On the flip side, it was also a term for a drug dealer. (See, for example, Velvet Underground's 1967 song "I'm Waiting for the Man.") It came eventually to be applied by African-Americans to whites, especially in the role of oppressors. (See, for example, Newsweek, August 3, 1964: "It is time to let the Man know that if he does something to us, we are going to do something back.") The use of this term was expanded to other counterculture groups and their battles against authority (such as the Yippies, which, according to a May 19, 1969 article in U.S. News and World Report, had the "avowed aim ... to destroy 'the Man' — their term for the present system of government"). The term eventually found its way into ironic usage, such as in a December 1979 motorcycle ad from the magazine Easyriders which featured the tagline, "California residents: Add 6% sales tax for The Man."

In popular culture

Dewey Finn in the movie The School of Rock defines The Man thusly:

"The Man. Oh, you don't know the Man? The Man's everywhere: in the White House, down the hall, Miss Mullins; she's the Man! And the Man ruined the ozone, and he's burning down the Amazon and he kidnapped Shamu and put her in a chlorine tank! Okay! And there used to be a way to stick it to the Man, it was called rock 'n roll. But guess what? Oh no! The Man had to ruin that too with a little thing called MTV! So don't waste your time trying to make anything cool or pure or awesome 'cause the Man's just gonna call you a fat washed up loser and crush your soul. So do yourself a favor and just give up!"

The quote "stick it to the Man" essentially means "fight back" or "resist".

The quote "the Man keeps you down" is commonly said in an ironically resigned fashion by those who see themselves as oppressed (often facetiously) and it has given rise to the phrase "kept down" in various, often Internet-based, circles. "Kept down" is usually said upon a victory in a game or contest, and has a meaning similar to "pwned" or "I win".

Source

Lighter, J.E. (Ed.). (1997). Random House Dictionary of American Slang. New York: Random House.