"man up" (v) [and a new "vociferously"]

[Laurence Horn]

At 4:11 PM -0400 10/15/10, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>Ben Brantley, in his review of "La Bete" today, writes "Here he [Mark
>Rylance, in the title role] mans up to become the comic aggressor,
>the unstoppable, primitive force of chaos that rages through Mr.
>Hirson's 1991 play ...".  (This is contrasted with his "passive,
>put-upon patsy" in "Boeing-Boeing" two years ago.)
>
>Joel
>
...and I just heard the other man up, from football commentator (and
former quarterback) Ron Jaworski, about a defensive strategy in a
recent football game that dictated switching from a zone defense to
"manning up", i.e. going to a man-to-man defense, with no machismo
involved.

Speaking of sports contexts, I just heard a radio interview with
baseball announcer (and former catcher) Tim McCarver, who was asked
about how the San Francisco Giants' longhaired fastballer Tim
Lincecum manages to lead the league in strikeouts while weighing in
at a slender 160 or so pounds. McCarver referred to the torque
Lincecum gets into his throwing motion--Lincecum, opined McCarver,
"turns his body more...vociferously, for want of a better word, than
anyone".  Without having checked, I suspect that McCarver's usage
doesn't fall under any of the OED subentries for "vociferously".
(Maybe he's been watching too much tennis--those guys, especially the
women, definitely do get pretty vociferous out there.)

LH

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