von Mann zu Mann
German edit
Etymology edit
Literally, “from man to man”. Compare also man-to-man.
Prepositional phrase edit
- (idiomatic) in private and in total honesty (of two men; sometimes used to indicate that the person is familiar with the matter at hand, especially if concerning male topics)
- Synonym: (close) unter vier Augen
- Von Mann zu Mann, es wird nicht besser.
- To be completely honest, it won't get any better.
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see von, Mann, zu.
Further reading edit
- “von Mann zu Mann” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “von Mann zu Mann” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon