What does the expression “Florida man” refer to? A specific person, a type of person, or what? And why Florida? I started seeing the expression “Florida man” a couple of years ago, and still don’t get it.
Weird stories from Florida and the news usually just identifies the person as “FLORIDA MAN”.
They’re special.
Florida’s public records laws mean journalists have easy access to weird crime stories, hence Florida Man:
https://www.tcpalm.com/story/opinion/editorials/2019/03/25/heres-why-florida-man-thing/3266020002/
In the process, Florida became a national laughingstock because of delays, ballot confusion claims, and live TV of election judges in Palm Beach County looking like idiots as they held up and solemnly scrutinized computer ballot cards looking for hanging chads on uncounted ballots as possible evidence of voter intent to cast a vote.
After that, it became journalistic sport to dredge up and promote stories about someone in Florida who acted stupidly, often drunk and in a criminal context. Hence the Florida Man stories, which now have a ready national audience and have outgrown their original context. There is still a hint though of the national press and Democrats liking such stories as a way to explain Gore losing the state in 2000 and to imply that Florida is a Red State because of an over abundance of idiots.