the.com/strongman
A man who lifts cars for fun and topples democracies for power.
means A strongman is either a performer or athlete renowned for feats of physical strength, or an authoritarian political leader who rules through force, intimidation, and the concentration of power.
from A transparent English compound of "strong" and "man," with "strong" reaching back through Old English "strang" (powerful, firm) to a Germanic root tied to ideas of tightness and tension — a cousin, possibly, of "string" and "stringent." The literal sense — the muscle-bound circus and fairground performer — came first in the 19th century. The political sense, the iron-fisted ruler who keeps order by sheer dominance, is a 20th-century figurative borrowing, dressing the dictator in the carnival muscleman's costume.
- two meanings
- Carnival muscle or political tyrant, equally fond of flexing
- atlas stones
- Spherical boulders lifted up to 600 pounds
- old school
- Victorian performers bent iron bars onstage for crowds
- log press
- They hoist tree-thick logs overhead like protein bars
- dictator slang
- Press shorthand for a ruler who skips elections
eddie hall — won world's strongest man 2017, lifted 500kg deadlift
hafthor bjornsson — won world's strongest man 2018, 501kg deadlift world record
brian shaw — won world's strongest man 4 times (2011, 2013, 2015, 2016)