Where no man has gone before - main title

[ElimGarak.93-99]

I have a question about the word 'man' in the last sentence, spoken by Kirk in the TOS main title: '...Where no man has gone before.'

Has anyone any idea why they used the word 'man' instead of human or men?

I know that it is usually translated from other languages into the word 'human', but I'm starting to wonder if the word 'men' could be used as well. There were of course human females on-board the Enterprise, but still. Or did they really mean humans?

In the 23th century Earth was already part of the Federation, humans weren't the only ones exploring new worlds and new civilisations. And the Enterprise had at least one crew member who wasn't entirely human: Spock. They also had enough alien guests on-board.

The Enterprise D on the other hand had lots of humans and alien crew members on-board, maybe that is why Picard says: Where no one has gone before.

Does anyone has any ideas about this?

 

[Lance]

The origin of the phrase itself comes from before Star Trek existed:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_no_man_has_gone_before

Dwaybe A. Day, a blogger, says that the quotation was taken from a White House booklet published in 1958.[1] The Introduction to Outer Space, produced in an effort to garner support for a national space program in the wake of the Sputnik flight, read on its first page:

The first of these factors is the compelling urge of man to explore and to discover, the thrust of curiosity that leads men to try to go where no one has gone before. Most of the surface of the earth has now been explored and men now turn on the exploration of outer space as their next objective.[2]

Quite why the "where no one" was replaced with "where no man" I don't know.

 

[Warped9]

Back in the day it was quite common to use the word "man" or "mankind" as representating or encompassing all of humanity. Indeed Neil Armstrong said when he landed on the Moon, "We came in peace for all mankind."

To say "where no man has gone before" conveys the idea no human has been there before. To say "no one" can mean no one whatsoever of any species.

 

[f14peter]

"man" would be common usage of the era, as in the mid-1960s United States television. Back then, nobody would think much of it, or whether it should be something less distinct.

It was changed to "one" for TNG to be less sexist, or as wiki says "gender-neutral"

really no deep seated meaning or intent, such phrased how people spoke, in the USA, 50 years ago.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Back in the day it was quite common to use the word "man" or "mankind" as representating or encompassing all of humanity. Indeed Neil Armstrong said when he landed on the Moon, "We came in peace for all mankind."

Yep.

 

[johnnybear]

Perhaps the emphasis was more on the alien contingent on The Enterprise was greater than in the TOS era!
JB

 

[Mytran]

The trouble is, the more PC quote from TNG is actually more inaccurate: The crew aren't going where no ONE has gone before, since wherever they go, there's already someone there!

The TOS quote (assuming "man" means "human") more accurately describes the missions of both Enterprises.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

The trouble is, the more PC quote from TNG is actually more inaccurate: The crew aren't going where no ONE has gone before, since wherever they go, there's already someone there!

The TOS quote (assuming "man" means "human") more accurately describes the missions of both Enterprises.

I completely disagree with your description of the verb tense. The verb is "has gone," which is the present perfect tense. In context, that indicates that the condition, of no human or no being having been there, applies prior to the time when the Enterprise goes there.

 

[Melakon]

The phrase sort of echoes back to stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs and H. Rider Haggard, that featured tales of Darkest Africa, "where no white man has ever been!"

 

[Mark 2000]

Sexism.

 

[ElimGarak.93-99]

So in this context 'man' means: mankind / human.

Thank you all.

 

[Warped9]

So in this context 'man' means: mankind / human.

Thank you all.

In the context of pre PC days, yes.

 

[Mark 2000]

PC is most people's term for what I call decency.

 

[Warped9]

PC is most people's term for what I call decency.

Yeah, sure. Whatever.

 

[Ssosmcin]

"Where no human has gone before" doesn't roll off the tongue and "where no one" doesn't feel as dramatic or strong. I agree that "man" is used to represent mankind, not "males." The term was used in the series that way more than once. "The Ultimate Computer" comes to mind ("the laws of God and man" and "they don't think like men"). Sexist? Nah, I doubt it. To use it as a gender term is to imply woman have gone there already and men are catching up.

"To boldly go where no man has gone before, but women have, so we'll meet them there."

 

[Maurice]

PC is a Personal Computer. A joke is a story with a humorous climax.

 

[Robert D. Robot]

From what I have read, for many centuries the word 'man' was a gender-neutral term and was used in the same way we use the word 'person' now. In addition, 'Wer' was a term for male and "wif' was a term used for female, so words similar to 'wermann' meant male human-being and 'wifmann' meant female human being. Around 700-800 years ago, 'wermann' fell into disuse, and 'wifmann' eventually became 'woman', and the term 'wife' evolved from 'wif'. Until only the last century or so, 'Man' (especially when the M is capitalized) has been taken to refer to humanity, in general.

In a similar way, 'girl' started out as a gender-neutral term for a child of either gender.

As others have said, I believe Kirk's use of 'man', was meant to cover the conquests of the human race as the what that word was understood to mean at the time.

 

[Nebusj]

The origin of the phrase itself comes from before Star Trek existed:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_no_man_has_gone_before

Dwaybe A. Day, a blogger, says that the quotation was taken from a White House booklet published in 1958.[1] The Introduction to Outer Space, produced in an effort to garner support for a national space program in the wake of the Sputnik flight, read on its first page:

The first of these factors is the compelling urge of man to explore and to discover, the thrust of curiosity that leads men to try to go where no one has gone before. Most of the surface of the earth has now been explored and men now turn on the exploration of outer space as their next objective.[2]

Quite why the "where no one" was replaced with "where no man" I don't know.

I should point out that Dwayne Day is not merely a blogger but also a rather respected space historian (and, it happens, Star Trek fan; Timo might remember him from rec.arts.startrek.tech days), with particular expertise in reconnaissance satellites and a healthy sideline in the pop culture side of space history.

He has a fresh article most weeks at The Space Review, and they're nearly all quite accessible and interesting reading.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

The origin of the phrase itself comes from before Star Trek existed:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_no_man_has_gone_before

Dwaybe A. Day, a blogger, says that the quotation was taken from a White House booklet published in 1958.[1] The Introduction to Outer Space, produced in an effort to garner support for a national space program in the wake of the Sputnik flight, read on its first page:

The first of these factors is the compelling urge of man to explore and to discover, the thrust of curiosity that leads men to try to go where no one has gone before. Most of the surface of the earth has now been explored and men now turn on the exploration of outer space as their next objective.[2]

Quite why the "where no one" was replaced with "where no man" I don't know.

Well, look at the next sentence that immediately follows it, which I've boldfaced. That passage itself uses a sense of men (plural of man) that is synonymous with people. It's not like this source passage itself was devoid of the use of that sense of the word man.

Despite issues that we recognize with it, that we often deal with by preferring to use other words, that sense is still recognized today. From http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/man:

Full Definition of MAN
1 a (1) : an individual human; especially : an adult male human

 

[scotpens]

"Where no man has gone before" sounds grand and poetic.

"Where no one has gone before" sounds like something from an interoffice memo.