Mackem is a term that refers to the residents of Sunderland, a city in North East England. Incorrect spelling variations include "Mak'em", "Makem", and "Maccam".

Evidence suggests the term is a recent coinage. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, which with the BBC carried out a well-publicised search for references, the earliest occurrence of it in print was in 1988, although the phrase "we still tak 'em and mak 'em" was found in a sporting context in 1973 in reference to Sunderland Cricket & Rugby Football Club. While this lends support to the theory that this phrase was the origin of the term Mackem, there is nothing to suggest that "mak 'em" had come to be applied to people from Sunderland generally at such a date. The name Mackem is often claimed to have been used by"Geordie" shipyard workers in the 19th century on the Tyne, to describe their Wearside counterparts. The Mackems would "make" the ship to be fitted out by the Geordies, hence "mackem and tackem" ("make them and take them").Geordies along with other people consider the term "mackem" as an insult, perhaps owing to the perceived more skilled role of fitting out the ships compared to the more physical role of assembling the hull. However, without any substantiated use of the phrase prior to the 1970s, this may well be a folk etymology.

"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.

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." ^{[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.