A Paul's man
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
A braggart; a captain out of service, with a long rapier; so called because the Walk down the centre of old St. Paul's, London, was at one time the haunt of stale knights.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “A Paul's man” mean?
A braggart; a captain out of service, with a long rapier; so called because the Walk down the centre of old St. Paul's, London, was at one time the haunt of stale knights.
Is “A Paul's man” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.