What is the origin of the phrase Man Alive?

Answer 1

The origin of the expression "man alive" has been disputed by scholars for decades. Many subscribe to the published ideas of Phillip Morgath in his paper The Reason and Right of Language: Expressions of the 19th Century. In this ground breaking treatise on popular expressions, Morgath posits the theory that "man alive" is a cryptic reference to the life of Arturo Man, the 17th century Dutch explorer that not once, but thrice was thought to be dead, or more appropriately killed while on his explorations. Man would turn up to be alive each time and the expression, originally in Dutch was "erc doche". Loosely translated "man alive". It was meant as an expression of disbeleif and joy that the nations greatest explorer was not dead as previously thought.

However, Robert Gibson's publication Expressions Throughout Time (1932)challenge Morgath's theory by pointing out the use of the expression "man alive" in a 14th century text Das Daswritten by Gustav Schottenmien. in it Shottenmien uses the contemporary sense of "man alive" to mean something that is unbelievable or out of the ordinary.