in a manner of speaking

From in + an alteration of Middle English a maner of speche (“a manner of literary style”).

in a manner of speaking

1. As it were; figuratively speaking; in a manner, in a way, in a certain respect.

   Synonym: so to speak

   • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter 20, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

     "Well, well, cap'n," returned the sea-cook, ". . . Why, there you all are together like a happy family, in a manner of speaking."

   • 1899 September – 1900 July, Joseph Conrad, chapter IX, in Lord Jim: A Tale, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, published 1900, →OCLC, page 109:

     No doubt it maddened him; it knocked him over afresh—in a manner of speaking—

   • 1913, Jeffery Farnol, chapter 28, in The Amateur Gentleman:

     e is—in a manner of speaking—in eclipse as it were, sir!"

   • 1939, George Orwell, Coming Up for Air:

     Because in a manner of speaking I am sentimental about my childhood—not my own particular childhood, but the civilization which I grew up in and which is now, I suppose, just about at its last kick.

   • 1961, Harold Pinter, The Collection:

     James. Brought up in the country, I suppose?
     Bill. In a manner of speaking, yes.

   • 1979, Tom Stoppard, Undiscovered Country:

     Rosenstock. If the gentlemen would perhaps like to try the Alpenrose...
     First Hiker. Is that a hotel too?
     Rosenstock. In a manner of speaking.

• Often used as an accompaniment to a metaphor or a play on words.

• Roget's International Thesaurus, fourth edition. T. Y. Crowell Co., 1977.
• Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language. Random House, 1996.