Norm MacDonald1 was known for many things, including using old‐timey references we all had to look up on the internet to figure out. This includes “Man alive2,” which I heard him say on Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. Apparently, it means:
An expression of surprise, shock, or astonishment.
- Man alive, the bill for that dinner was nearly $200!
- Are you all right? Man alive, it’s lucky we weren’t killed in that accident!
“Norm Macdonald.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Sept. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norm_Macdonald. Accessed 27 Sept. 2022. ↩
“man alive.” Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. 2015. Farlex, Inc 27 Sep. 2022 https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/man+alive ↩