every man for himself

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈɛv.(ə.)ɹi mæn fɔː(ɹ) hɪm.ˈsɛlf/

Phrase

every man for himself

1. (nautical) A command, issued in case of shipwreck, that crew members are relieved of all duties and should try to save themselves.
   • 1955, Walter Lord, quoting RMS Titanic Captain Edward Smith, A Night to Remember, page 86:

     Men, you have done your full duty. You can do no more. Abandon your cabin. Now it's every man for himself.

2. (figurative) An expression of indifference, describing or advocating selfishness, lack of comradeship etc.

Translations

forget about comradeship; save yourselves!

• Arabic: كُلّ رَجُل لِنَفْسِهِ (kull rajul linafsihi)
• Catalan: campi qui pugui (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 人各為己／人各为己 (rén gè wèi jǐ), 各人自掃門前雪／各人自扫门前雪 (gèrén zì sǎo ménqiánxuě)

• Czech: každý sám za sebe
• Dutch: ieder voor zich
• Finnish: pelastukoon ken voi
• French: chacun pour soi (fr); sauve qui peut (fr)
• German: jeder ist sich selbst der Nächste
• Italian: ognun per sé, il primo prossimo è sé medesimo
• Latin: proximus egomet mihi
• Maori: tautauāmoa
• Polish: każdy sobie rzepkę skrobie (pl) (literally "everyone scrapes their own turnip")
• Portuguese: salve-se quem puder, cada um sabe de si, cada um por si
• Russian: ка́ждый са́м за́ себя́ (káždyj sám zá sebjá)
• Spanish: sálvese quien pueda (es), cada palo que aguante su vela (es)
• Swedish: var och en för sig, rädda sig den som kan
• Thai: ตัวใครตัวมัน (th) (dtuua-krai-dtuua-man)

See also

• every woman for herself
• look out for number one

Adjective

every-man-for-himself (not comparable)

1. selfish

   I quit show business because there was too much of an every-man-for-himself attitude going on.

   There was an every-man-for-himself attitude during the time of the Great Depression in 1930s America.