the part of speech of the word 'man'

[jiang]

Dear teachers,

As is known, 'man' can be used as a noun. However, I came across a sentence'He is not man enough'. I think the word 'man' is an adjective. But I can't prove it by consulting my dictionries which define 'man' as a noun. Could you please explain the usage if the word in the sentence is a noun?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

 

[Casiopea]

Dear teachers,

As is known, 'man' can be used as a noun. However, I came across a sentence'He is not man enough'. I think the word 'man' is an adjective. But I can't prove it by consulting my dictionries which define 'man' as a noun. Could you please explain the usage if the word in the sentence is a noun?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

It seems to act like an adjective:

He is good enough.
He is sure enough.
He is positive enough.
He is man enough.

All the best,

 

[Mister Micawber]

Interesting question, Jiang. I did a lot of thinking and googling without coming up with a real answer. My opinion is that 'man' remains a noun, and that the expression 'man enough' is idiomatic, meaning 'having sufficient masculine attributes', or perhaps is a shortened form of 'manly enough'.

I cannot think of another 'noun + enough' phrase, unless it is a facetious mimicry of this one ('woman enough', Yankee fan enough').

I look forward with curiosity to the posting of a definitive explanation.

 

[jiang]

Dear Casiopea,
Thank you very much for your explanation. Now I see.

Jiang

Dear teachers,

As is known, 'man' can be used as a noun. However, I came across a sentence'He is not man enough'. I think the word 'man' is an adjective. But I can't prove it by consulting my dictionries which define 'man' as a noun. Could you please explain the usage if the word in the sentence is a noun?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

It seems to act like an adjective:

He is good enough.
He is sure enough.
He is positive enough.
He is man enough.

All the best,

 

[jiang]

Thank you very much for your response. I asked the question because there are no other examples of 'noun+enough'.


Jiang

Interesting question, Jiang. I did a lot of thinking and googling without coming up with a real answer. My opinion is that 'man' remains a noun, and that the expression 'man enough' is idiomatic, meaning 'having sufficient masculine attributes', or perhaps is a shortened form of 'manly enough'.

I cannot think of another 'noun + enough' phrase, unless it is a facetious mimicry of this one ('woman enough', Yankee fan enough').

I look forward with curiosity to the posting of a definitive explanation.