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I think the sentence I'm working on feels better lyrically if I say:

"strangers of all manners."

As opposed to:

"all manner of strangers."

At the very least I think it might be a bit awkward when read as a part of the larger piece, but from a grammatical perspective, is it even proper? Is "manners" used in this way (basically as a full blown substition for "types")?

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  • The phrase "strangers of all manners" reminds me a little too strongly of "strangers to all manners"—not that there is any grammatical basis for that connection. – Sven Yargs Oct 15 '13 at 18:08
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I have never encountered of all manners, and if I saw it I would take it literally as something like whatever their manners might be.

All manner of is for me an idiom meaning all kinds of, which cannot be analysed or rearranged.

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As Colin says, all manner of strangers means all kinds/sorts/types of strangers.

Strangers of all manners means Strangers who have good manners/behaviour, and also those who have bad manners/behaviour.

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I believe it is perfectly acceptable to use "manners" here as a synonym for "sorts" or "types" as you mentioned ("strangers of all sorts/types/manners"). That does not sound incorrect to me, I think I've heard it before.

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  • Which of the options in the question are you commenting on? – TrevorD Oct 15 '13 at 11:38
  • On whether "manners" is OK to use in "strangers of all manners". Not so common usage, but that does not strike me as incorrect while carrying the same (or close) meaning as "strangers of all sorts". – Vilmar Oct 15 '13 at 12:00
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    1. It might be helpful to edit your answer to clarify the first point. 2. Altho' I agree that it could be used to mean "strangers of all sorts", I would say that it is, at best, ambiguous and therefore better avoided in favour of the normal idiom "All manner of ...". – TrevorD Oct 15 '13 at 12:11
  • It is true that it's better to avoid such ambiguity, but the asker stated that he wanted to use this phrase instead of the regular idiom "All manner of strangers". – Vilmar Oct 15 '13 at 12:30
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1) "All manner of" is an idiom that you can not break up or rearrange. 2) "All manner of" sounds old fashioned and a little snobby in conversation, and possibly British in the traditional style. It is an idiom seen more often in writing. For example, it would be very literary to write: "All manner of strangers crept the dark streets at night." And if you said that at a lunch counter, everyone would laugh at you. You can consider these alternatives: all types of, all kinds of, a (wide) array of. Of these words, only #1 & 2 would be appropriate, depending on your nuance.

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