marked man
A man whose behavior has made him the object of suspicion; a man whose life may be in danger.
When Dave dared to criticize the dictator openly, he became a marked man.
middleman
A person or small business standing in an intermediary position between two parties.
A retail merchant is the middleman between the factory and the consumer.
new man
A person who has become very much better.
Diet and exercise made a new man of him.
one man's meat is another man's poison
What is good for one person is not necessarily good for another. A proverb.
Even though Jeff likes to swim in ice cold water, his brother Tun hates it. This is understandable, however, because one's man's meat is another man's poison.
one-upmanship
Always keeping ahead of others; trying to keep an advantage. (The word one-upmanship was made up by a British humorist, Stephen Potter, on the pattern of such words as sportsmanship and workmanship.)
No matter what I do, I find that Jim has already done it better. He's an expert at one-upmanship.
Jack took the news to the principal while we were still talking about it. He's very quick to practice one-upmanship.
right-hand man
A valued and indispensable assistant.
The chancellor of the university never goes anywhere without the vice chancellor, his right-hand man, whose judgment he greatly trusts.
so many
A limited number of; some.
Our school auditorium will hold only so many people.
Many people want to come to the prom; but the gymnasium will hold only so many.
Don't give the boys all the cookies they want; give so many to Tom, so many to Dick, and so many to Bob.
A group of. Often used for emphasis.
The children were all sitting very quietly in their chairs, like so many dolls.
Bob is always bragging; his stories are just so many lies.
the man
The police; a policeman.
I am gonna turn you in to the man.
The boss; the leader; the most important figure in an organization or outfit.
The man will decide.