Usage of "the common man"

[Nessie]

Before TV, the common man seldom had the opportunity to see and hear his leaders express their views

=> Does the sentence sound natural and correct? (I think "the common man" should be replaced by "common men")

Many thanks
Nessie
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[Haihao]

'to see and hear his leaders' suggests singular noun be the subject.

[Jamie (K)]

"The common man" means something like "the average person" or "the ordinary person". We use the singular in these expressions, but they're meant collectively.

[Haihao]

Like 'everyone'.

[ChristmasCarol]

Is 'the common man' something like 'the average Joe'?

[Ralf]

He is indeed. But the expression 'the common man' is more standard. I'd prefer 'he is an ordinary person' or 'he is a normal guy' since the word common has a slight derogatory connotation.
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[Haihao]

How about other choices for the original such as: common folk, commoner, commonalty, commons, etc. to avoid the gender. (Of course 'man' could be good enough to mean 'person').

[Jamie (K)]

[Nessie]

Thanks all, but I still wonder why "the" is used here. There's no definite meaning who that man is, right? So why don't we use "common men" instead? I think it will make more sense...
_________________
... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know..

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

[Jamie (K)]

[Nessie]

[Jamie (K)]

If you said "common men", that would mean the entire mass of ordinary people. We imagine thousands and thousands of people who are all ordinary.

When we hear "the common man", we think of one average individual who is representative of all people of his type. Sometimes in slang we refer to "the common man" as "Joe Average".

[Nessie]

Thanks a lot, Jamie
But why do we have to refer to one average individual who is representative of all people of his type instead of refering to many people in general? I've never seen this usage before.

Many thanks
Nessie.
_________________
... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know..

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

[Inga]

We use the in academic or formal language, mainly to describe typical characteristics. We always use a singular verb:
The seagull is a scavenging bird. (I think it's something like this.)
And I agree with Jamie, that we imagine one person, not a whole group in general. Though it's up to you how to express the same idea in your utterance.
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[Jamie (K)]

Nessie, whether or not you've seen this usage before is immaterial. It's very common. However, you can choose to have your readers imagine all people of a given type en masse, or you can choose to have them imagine one representative person.