A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

man of the moment • minuteman
man of the moment—(also: man of the day) an outstanding
man of his time: Gabriel Deshayes was “a man of the mo -
ment,” extremely sensitive to the immense needs of his con-
temporaries, especially the poor.
minuteman —(hist.) a volunteer soldier in the American
Revolutionary War (pledged to be ready to fight at a minute’s
notice): Salem was among the Minutemen who fought in the
Battle of Concord, on April 
1
9, 
1
775.
man of the people • people person
man of the people —an ordinary man, not distinguished by
rank or position: The exchange of roles in “The Prince and
the Pauper” suggests that a man of the people can be a benev-
olent ruler because of his humble roots.
people person —smb. who likes being with other people and
who is good at working with people: Jane is not a people per-
son. Luckily, her job does not require her to spend a lot of
time with clients.
man of the woods • woodman
man of the woods —
1
. a savage inhabitant of the woods: He
was but a wild man of the woods … polished over skin-deep
with Roman civilization. 2. used of orangutan: The variety of
the ape and monkey tribes is endless; and among them is the
orang-outang, or the “man of the woods,” as the name implies.
woodman —(also: woodsman) a person who works or hunts
in the woods: The oldest woodmen say that it takes a hundred
years to grow a perfect oak for an English ship.
man of the world • worldly man
man of the world —a society man experienced in the ways
of social life: My dear Sir Robert, you are a man of the world,
and you have your price, I suppose.
Note: 
The expression does not correlate in meaning with the
phrase citizen of the world— a person who is at home anywhere
in the world; one who has no national prejudices: He is a real
citizen of the world, and it is his humanism and his universal
values that have earned him such esteem in the international
community.
worldly man —a man concerned with material gains and
advantages: From the moment one enters the foyer, one can
detect that this is a worldly man of some means and possessed
of good taste.