Are there additional meanings to "mano a mano" besides "going head to head" with someone? Especially, can "mano" take on a different meaning in this phrase from the standard meaning "hand"?
I have been told (by a spanish speaker, so no possible confusion stemming from the phonetic proximity to "man") that the expression "mano a mano" is used all over Latin America as "man to man", where "mano" is short for "hermano". Is this the case? Is it very common?
I did a google search, but didn't find much to confirm this, possibly because it may very well be mostly used as such in conversation and not in writing. What I did find was a facebook group under the name "mano a mano por el hermano" whose logo features pairs of multicolored hands reaching out to one another, which suggests that mano a mano was understood as "hand to hand".
EDIT apparently "hablar mano a mano" is one such time, when mano is to be understood as brother, or man. Can anyone confirm/infirm this interpretation? I've read it coming from a woman, so I have my doubts.