Look up challenger in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Challenger may refer to:

In transportation[link]

Land vehicles[link]

• Challenger trucks, a Canadian maker of heavy trucks
• One of several British Army tanks:
  • Cruiser Mk VIII Challenger, in service during World War II
  • Challenger 1 tank, in service from the late 1980s to early 21st century
  • Challenger 2 tank, in service from 1998
• Dodge Challenger, a car made by Dodge
• Mitsubishi Challenger, an SUV sold in export markets as the Pajero Sport/Montero Sport
• Tokai Challenger, a solar car
• Challenger (train), a named passenger train fleet
• Union Pacific Challenger, a type of steam locomotive
• Challenger Tractor, a rubber-tracked agricultural tractor

Sea vessels[link]

• HMS Challenger, any of eight Royal Navy ships
• RSS Challenger, a Sjöormen class submarine in the Republic of Singapore Navy
• USS Challenger (ID-3630), an early-20th century US Navy cargo ship
• Challenger (clipper), a clipper sailing ship built in London in 1852
• Challenger (1853 clipper), a clipper ship built in Boston
• Stena Challenger, a ferry, formerly Isle of Inishfree and Pride of Cherbourg, now the MV Kaitaki
• Deepsea Challenger, used by James Cameron in the Mariana Trench

Air and space craft[link]

• Canadair Challenger, a series of business jets manufactured by Bombardier
• Space Shuttle Challenger, the NASA space shuttle
  • Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
• Quad City Challenger, an ultralight airplane
• Challenger, the Apollo 17 lunar module

Places[link]

• Challenger Deep, the deepest point in the world's oceans
• Challenger Plateau, a submarine rise in the Tasman Sea close to the New Zealand coast
• Challenger Mountains, a subrange of the Arctic Cordillera in Nunavut, Canada
• Mount Challenger, Falkland Islands
• Challenger Point, a mountain in Colorado, United States
• Challenger Harbour, Fremantle, Western Australia
• Challengers, Saint Kitts and Nevis

In entertainment[link]

• Challenger (1990 film), about the space shuttle Challenger disaster
• The Challengers, a 1990 film produced for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
• Challenger (comics), a Marvel Comics Golden Age superhero
• Challenger (video game), developed by Hudson Soft
• Challenger (game show), a 1997 Australian game show
• Challengers of the Unknown a team of costumed crime fighters from DC Comics
• Challenger (Star Trek), a Star Trek: New Earth novel
• Challengers (album), by The New Pornographers
• The Challengers (band), a 1960s surf rock group
• The Challengers (game show), a 1990 American game show hosted by Dick Clark
• Challengers (manga), the shōnen-ai manga by Hinako Takanaga
• Professor Challenger, a fictional scientist and adventurer created by Arthur Conan Doyle
• "Challenger", a song by Misia from Mars & Roses

People[link]

• Ben Challenger (born 1978), English high jumper
• Okeem Challenger, Antiguan and Barbudan footballer
• Romeo Challenger (born 1950), rock drummer, father of Ben Challenger

In science[link]

• Challenger (eagle), an American Bald Eagle known for free flights
• Challenger Society for Marine Science, established in 1903 in the United Kingdom
• Challenger expedition, a British oceanographic survey in 1872-1876

In sport[link]

• Challenger (America's Cup), the syndacates challengers of America's Cup
• Challengers League & Challengers Cup, the third tier football league and league cup competition in South Korea
• ATP Challenger Series, a series of professional tennis tournaments
• Challenger (horse), Champion Thoroughbred sire in the United States

Other uses[link]

• Challenger Institute of Technology, a Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institution in Fremantle, Western Australia
• Challenger Equipment, AGCO Corporation's division of agricultural machinery
• Challenger hop, a beer flavouring
• Challenger Mine, a gold mine in South Australia
• Challenger School, a private school in the western United States
• Challenger Secondary School in Spanaway, WA for the Bethel School District

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"The Man" is a slang phrase that may refer to the government or to some other authority in a position of power. In addition to this derogatory connotation, it may also serve as a term of respect and praise.

The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe oppression. The phrase "stick it to the Man" encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means "fight back" or "resist", either openly or via sabotage.^[1]

History[link]

The earliest recorded use^{[citation needed]} of the term "the Man" in the American sense dates back to a letter written by a young Alexander Hamilton in September 1772, when he was 15. In a letter to his father James Hamilton, published in the Royal Dutch-American Gazette, he described the response of the Dutch governor of St. Croix to a hurricane that raked that island on August 31, 1772. "Our General has issued several very salutary and humane regulations and both in his publick and private measures, has shewn himself the Man." ^{[2][dubious – discuss]} In the Southern U.S. states, the phrase came to be applied to any man or any group in a position of authority, or to authority in the abstract. From about the 1950s the phrase was also an underworld code word for police, the warden of a prison or other law enforcement or penal authorities.

It was also used as a term for a drug dealer in the 1950s and 1960s and can be seen in such media as Curtis Mayfield's "No Thing On Me", William Burroughs's novel Naked Lunch, and in the Velvet Underground song "I'm Waiting for the Man", in which Lou Reed sings about going to Uptown Manhattan, specifically Lexington Avenue and 125th Street, to buy heroin.

The use of this term was expanded to counterculture groups and their battles against authority, such as the Yippies, which, according to a May 19, 1969 article in U.S. News and World Report, had the "avowed aim ... to destroy 'The Man', their term for the present system of government". The term eventually found its way into humorous usage, such as in a December 1979 motorcycle ad from the magazine Easyriders which featured the tagline, "California residents: Add 6% sales tax for The Man."

In present day, the phrase has been popularized in commercials and cinema, featuring particularly prominently as a recurring motif in the 2003 film School of Rock.^[3][4][5][6]

Use as praise[link]

The term has also been used as an approbation or form of praise. This may refer to the recipient's status as the leader or authority within a particular context, or it might be assumed to be a shortened form of a phrase like "He is the man (who is in charge)." One example of this usage dates to 1879 when Otto von Bismarck commented, referring to Benjamin Disraeli's pre-eminent position at the Congress of Berlin, "The old Jew, he is the man."^{[7][dubious – discuss]}

In more modern usage, it can be a superlative compliment ("you da man!") indicating that the subject is currently standing out amongst his peers even though they have no special designation or rank, such as a basketball player who is performing better than the other players on the court. It can also be used as a genuine compliment with an implied, slightly exaggerated or sarcastic tone, usually indicating that the person has indeed impressed the speaker but by doing something relatively trivial.

See also[link]

• Absentee landlord
• Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four)
• New World Order (conspiracy theory)
• Ruling class
• The Establishment
• Power elite
• Corrections officer
• YTMND

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Lighter, J.E. (Ed.). (1997). Random House Dictionary of American Slang. New York: Random House.