pronounce them man and wife?

[MaX]

Hi

I've got problem with this expression: The Priest pronounced them man and wife"

Namely I think it should've been husband and wife. Is it correct to say man and wife or husband and wife? 1 example i found in my grammar exercies and I asked my native teacher and he told me that author must have made a mistake but today i opened sunday times and it was the same. Will sb explain me that?

[Pete]

Hi

I've got problem with this expression: The Priest pronounced them man and wife"

Namely I think it should've been husband and wife. Is it correct to say man and wife or husband and wife? 1 example i found in my grammar exercies and I asked my native teacher and he told me that author must have made a mistake but today i opened sunday times and it was the same. Will sb explain me that?
You are right that the phrase "husband and wife" would be common and correct, but "man and wife" is also used. It is most commonly used as a traditonal formula in a marriage ceremony.

The Oxford English Dictionary says that "man" was commonly used to mean "husband" in English hundreds of years ago. That use has almost completely gone away with the exception of this particular phrase, though occasionally a married woman might refer to her husband and say, "he's my man."