The English idiom “as one man” means several people doing something simultaneously and in harmony with each other, or a group of people agreeing totally on something. It can also refer to physical activities that seem choreographed or a unanimous decision on an issue. “To a man” means every person in a group is included. Other phrases include “assonant” and “by acclamation,” but simpler phrases like “all together” or “in unison” are more popular.
The English idiom “as one man” refers to several people doing something simultaneously and in harmony with each other. When an English speaker or writer refers to doing something ‘as one man’, the idea is that several people do it at the same time or ‘all together’. A similar alternate meaning for this phrase is that a group of people agree totally on something, or feel the same and act decisively as a group.
Many times, English readers might use the phrase “like a man” to refer to physical activities that seem choreographed or other instances where people act in a concerted way. A technical synonym for this is the phrase “in unison.” For example, someone watching a well-choreographed dance routine or similar performance might say that the performers act “like one man.”
Another common use of the phrase is related to the decision making process that takes place in planning and administration. Regardless of field or context, a group of people such as a council or committee could be said to act “as one man” if they produce a unilateral finding or unanimous decision on an issue. Another synonymous phrase for this includes “of one mind”, which also indicates a group of people who have the same thoughts and feelings on an issue and are in complete agreement.
In these uses of the phrase “like a man,” another very similar traditional English and Irish phrase applies. The phrase “to a man” means that every person in a group is included. For example, if someone says “they were all exhausted, to one man” it indicates that the condition of extreme exhaustion applies to each individual in the reference group. Here, the two sentences can often coincide, where someone could say that “they were all in agreement, with one man” and therefore “they acted like one man”.
In addition to these phrases, many others have been developed to illustrate a group of people acting together. Some are more technical and literal, like “assonant” or “by acclamation,” while others are more figurative. For example, someone might be speaking to a group that is “cheek to cheek” on an issue. All of these are quite old and quite obsolete in many English-speaking communities, where simpler phrases like “all together,” at once” or “in unison” are far more popular.
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