"Hmm," muses Sherlock. "'In a manner of speaking'... there are a number of possibilities lurking behind that phrase and I am not at all sure which one is the reality. It could be that he feels more distant from the identity of Sherlock Holmes because he is not quite the same person who chose it; it could be a way of obliquely acknowledging that he doesn't think he's quite the Sherlock you're looking for; it could be some sort of private joke that I don't have enough context to fully pick up on; it could be any combination of those things."