[Vocabulary] What is the meaning of "man down"?

[mokbon]

Hi?

Robin leaves for Derek and the mood goes down. Ted cheers up,

Ted : We're a man down. That just means we're gonna have to party that much harder.

What does this mean? is it like a man who are ready to do something?

 

[5jj]

We are a man down.
We are a man short.
One person has left.
One person is missing.

 

[BobK]

:up: It is also used typically in US crime dramas, with the specific meaning 'One of our operatives - a man or a woman - has been incapacitated [and may be dead]'. It is often followed by the expression 'Get a bus' (which, in that context, means 'Call for an ambulance'). So that the following dialogue would be possible:

A: Man down!
B: Get a bus.
C (feeling pulse): No need - she's gone.

b

 

[BobSmith]

[AmE - not a teacher]

I would bet real money that "man down" is originally a military phrase, similar to "man overboard". As an idiom (and in the example cited), it means "We are a man short", but in other context, it means "we have an injured/fallen (downed) member that we need to attend to".

(It's rather hard to google this because of all the noise generated by Rihanna!)

 

[BobK]

:up: (Incidentally, I think you can add "-Rihanna" at the end of the search string. I'm not sure if this works with Google, but it did with Altavista in the days when I was working (unpaid!) on the Help, and I still do it.)

b