| 释义 |
man of straw
man of straw n 1. a person of little substance 2. chiefly Also called: straw man US a person used as a cover for some dubious plan or enterprise; front man 3. a man who cannot be relied upon to honour his financial commitments, esp because of his limited resources straw′ man′
n. 1. a person whose function is only to cover another's activities; front. 2. a conveniently weak or innocuous person, object, or issue used as a seeming adversary or argument. [1895–1900] man of straw
man of strawA weak person. "A straw man" is sometimes used as a variant. She thought he was strong and honest, but he turned out to be nothing more than a man of straw.See also: man, of, strawa man of straw or a straw man BRITISH, FORMALA man of straw is a man whose character is weak and who lacks definite beliefs. The party is run by men of straw without guts and without principles. Note: In journalism, people also talk about straw men. This form of the expression is used in both British and American English. These are the responses of straw men with straw policies.See also: man, of, strawman of straw (or straw man) 1 a person compared to an effigy stuffed with straw; a sham. 2 a sham argument set up to be defeated, usually as a means of avoiding having to tackle an opponent's real arguments. 2 1991 Past & Present By making the representativeness of the case-studies into the crucial issue, Rubinstein is erecting a straw man which he can easily demolish without addressing the basic criticisms of his sources and methodology. See also: man, of, strawa ˌman of ˈstraw a weak or cowardly person: You don’t need to be frightened of him — he’s a man of straw.This idiom compares a person to a model of a man filled with straw (= stems of grain plants such as wheat, etc. that have been cut and dried).See also: man, of, strawEncyclopediaSeeManLegalSeemanFinancialSeestraw man |