What Is A Grand Poobah?
Starcap 50
Can somebody tell me exactly what a "Grand Poobah" is?
I would guess that this is a slang term for the head of any one of these men's
fraternal organizations, such as the Elks, Moose, etc. Again, this is only a
guess.
The word "poobah" is not in my dictionary. Does somebody know anything about
the origin of this word?
Also, does "poobah" refer to any specific fraternal organizations? For
example, would a leader of one fraternal organization be called a "Grand
Poobah" and a leader of another such organization be called something else?
I have become curious about this topic. Any information and feedback would be
appreciated. Thanks.
Dennis
Robert Lieblich
>
> Hello,
>
> Can somebody tell me exactly what a "Grand Poobah" is?
Here's what the online Merriam-Webster has to say:
Main Entry: pooh-bah
Variant(s): also poo-bah /'pü-"bä, -"bo/
Function: noun
Usage: often capitalized P&B
Etymology: Pooh-Bah, character in Gilbert and Sullivan's
opera The
Mikado (1885) bearing the title
Lord-High-Everything-Else
Date: 1888
1 : a person holding many public or private offices
2 : a person in high position or of great influence
> I would guess that this is a slang term for the head of any one of these men's
> fraternal organizations, such as the Elks, Moose, etc. Again, this is only a
> guess.
It's a good guess. It probably began as a humorous use, but by now
it's not particularly funny.
[ . . . ]
> Also, does "poobah" refer to any specific fraternal organizations?
It's a facetious term. To my knowledge, it's not actually used by
any organization as a title or name for a position.
> For
> example, would a leader of one fraternal organization be called a "Grand
> Poobah" and a leader of another such organization be called something else?
Different organizations do use different titles, but, to repeat, I
don't think any organization actually uses "Grand Poobah."
Martin Ambuhl
>
> Hello,
>
> Can somebody tell me exactly what a "Grand Poobah" is?
>
> I would guess that this is a slang term for the head of any one of these men's
> fraternal organizations, such as the Elks, Moose, etc. Again, this is only a
> guess.
>
> The word "poobah" is not in my dictionary. Does somebody know anything about
> the origin of this word?
The Grand Pooh-Bah is a character in Gilbert & Sullivan's "The Mikado".
"Pooh-bah" has come to mean a person holding many offices or a pompous
self-important person.
This term has become so established that my 1965 Wildhagen lists it:
Pooh Bah ['pu:'ba:] s. (aus der Oper 'The Mikado') jd, der viele Amter
bekleidet.
Even COD10 (1999) has it:
pooh-bah /pu:'ba:/ *n. a pompous person having much influence or holding many
offices simultaneaously.
- Origin: from the name of a character in W. S. Gilbert's "The Mikado" (1885).
And this is not a new addition to COD. COD5 (1964) yields:
Pooh-Bah' (poo[with macron]b-) n. Holder of many offices at ones. [person in
W. S. Gilbert's "The Mikado"]
Maybe a new dictionary is in order?
Rowan Dingle
[...]
>Different organizations do use different titles, but, to repeat, I
>don't think any organization actually uses "Grand Poobah."
Though many a Molloch is a Grand Poobah.[*]
--
Rowan Dingle
[*]: I am unable to explain this comment for reasons that I am unable to
divulge. Nowhere is safe. Not even down here below the -- .
A search with the words reagan, bechtel, bush, bush, weinberger, shultz and
molloch might elucidate. Or eliminate, so please be cautious.
Oo-ooooh! Oo-ooooh!
Richard Fontana
> Different organizations do use different titles, but, to repeat, I
> don't think any organization actually uses "Grand Poobah."
The Yahoo! company actually calls its chief executive "Chief Yahoo".
Harvey V
<rf...@sparky.cs.nyu.edu> said:
Ah, but that's a much older term than Pooh-bah!
Harvey
Evan Kirshenbaum
> Starcap 50 wrote:
> > For example, would a leader of one fraternal organization be
> > called a "Grand Poobah" and a leader of another such organization
> > be called something else?
>
> Different organizations do use different titles, but, to repeat, I
> don't think any organization actually uses "Grand Poobah."
Not in real life, but unless I'm misremembering, the head of the Loyal
Order of the Water Buffalo, on _The Flintstones_ was officially the
"Grand Poobah".
--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
HP Laboratories |Well, if you can't believe what you
1501 Page Mill Road, Building 1U |read in a comic book, what can you
Palo Alto, CA 94304 |believe?!
| Bullwinkle J. Moose
kirsh...@hpl.hp.com
(650)857-7572
Ray Heindl
<Pine.GSO.4.21.01051...@sparky.cs.nyu.edu>:
Could that be related to Chief Wahoo, the mascot of the Cleveland
Indians? Maybe the founder of Yahoo was an Indians fan.
--
Ray Heindl
Starcap 50
Many thanks for the information.
The problem is that I was misspelling it as "poobah" instead of "poohbah."
The former spelling is not in my dictionary, but the latter one is.
Dennis
Earle D Jones
star...@aol.com (Starcap 50) wrote:
*
I think of a "Grand Poobah" as another expression for "High Mucky-Muck"
or "Honcho" -- all referring to some senior management person.
BTW "Honcho" is not a Japanese word. "Honbu" means "head office" and
"honbucho" is the title for the head-office director.
earle
*
Tsippi Jelingold
news:wQNC7uALwV$6Ew$y...@wickenden.demon.co.uk...
Shhhhh... Bohemian Club?
Regards, <name hidden>
masakim
"Earle D Jones" wrote:
> I think of a "Grand Poobah" as another expression for "High Mucky-
> Muck" or "Honcho" -- all referring to some senior management person.
>
> BTW "Honcho" is not a Japanese word. "Honbu" means "head office"
> and "honbucho" is the title for the head-office director.
>
"Honcho" comes directly from Japanese "hanchou." "Han" means "group; squad"
and "chou" stands for "eldest; chief; leader."
Regards
masakim
N.Mitchum
----
> Can somebody tell me exactly what a "Grand Poobah" is?
Pooh-bah was the name of a character in Gilbert and Sullivan's
*Mikado*, a comic operetta. He was also called "Lord High
Everything Else."
----
> The word "poobah" is not in my dictionary. Does somebody know anything about
> the origin of this word?
>....
Look for an entry under "Pooh-bah."
-----
> Also, does "poobah" refer to any specific fraternal organizations?
>....
No. If it did, it could be meant only humorously. No organization
would give its leader such a ridiculous title.
----NM
jan sand
The yahoos were, I believe, an inferior race to the race of horses in
one of Swift's Gulliver adventures. They were humans.
Jan Sand
Steve Hayes
The only one I know is a character from Gilbert & Sullivan's "The Mikado".
The Mikado was the Emperor of Japan, and his two chief ministers were Koko,
the Lord High Executioner, and Poohbah, the Lord High Everything Else.
So I would imagine that if the term derives from the character, it would refer
to an interfering pompous busybody who wanted to control everything.
Poobah, for instance, couldn't even keep his sticky fingers out of executions.
As he sang, of an executed criminal:
Now though you'd have said that head was dead
for its owner dead was he
it stood on its neck with a smile well bred
and bowed three times to me
it was none of your impudent off-hand nods
but as humble as could be
for it clearly knew the deference due to a man of pedigree.
Ever met anyone with that attitude?
That's a Grand Poobah.
Steve Hayes
http://www.suite101.com/myhome.cfm/methodius
Earle D Jones
<mas...@kun.ne.jp> wrote:
*
Masakim: I bow to your knowledge.
Why is neither "hancho" nor "honcho" in any of my three Japanese
dictionaries?
I lived in Tokyo from 1983 through 1994 and could find no one who used
the expression. I was led to believe that it was a bastardized (by
American GI's) version of "honbu" (main office) and "cho" (leader).
Perhaps "hancho" is slang and therefore does not appear in formal
Japanese dictionaries.
Kaho wa nete matte,
Thanks,
earle
*
Matti Lamprhey
> [...]
> Poobah, for instance, couldn't even keep his sticky fingers out of
> executions. As he sang, of an executed criminal:
>
> Now though you'd have said that head was dead
> for its owner dead was he
> it stood on its neck with a smile well bred
> and bowed three times to me
> it was none of your impudent off-hand nods
> but as humble as could be
> for it clearly knew the deference due to a man of pedigree.
>
> Ever met anyone with that attitude?
>
> That's a Grand Poobah.
Don't forget it was Briton-written, in a land where many claim to be able
to trace their descent to a primordial protoplasmal pre-atomic globule.
Matti
Rowan Dingle
>Shhhhh... Bohemian Club?
Oh no! What have you done?
Actually Bechtel, the company, would have done just as well for all
except Reagan, and perhaps the second Bush. I think Philip Habib might
have worked for Bechtel, too.
Though the Grand Poobah of Bechtel is, I think, a Bechtel not a Molloch.
--
Rowan Dingle
Stipan
"Evan Kirshenbaum" <kirsh...@hpl.hp.com> wrote in message
news:ur8xuc...@hpl.hp.com...
> Robert Lieblich <lieb...@erols.com> writes:
>
> > Starcap 50 wrote:
> > > For example, would a leader of one fraternal organization be
> > > called a "Grand Poobah" and a leader of another such organization
> > > be called something else?
> >
> > Different organizations do use different titles, but, to repeat, I
> > don't think any organization actually uses "Grand Poobah."
>
> Not in real life, but unless I'm misremembering, the head of the Loyal
> Order of the Water Buffalo, on _The Flintstones_ was officially the
> "Grand Poobah".
You're not :)
A loyal Flintstone fan here :)
However, the word is used elsewhere too.
Try with Google.
Another way of putting it is Grand Exalted Poobah :)
It is used for a person. The meaning is: I am the top guy here. I know all
and see all.
If I'm not wrong in Sinclair Lewis's Babbitt there's a similar organization
that reminds me of the Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes.
These fraternal organizations were very popular at the time.
Today's Loyal order :)
http://www.loyalorderofthewaterbuffalo.com/LodgeOath.htm
Stipan
Steve Hayes
So, at the time, did many in east Asia, about which it was ostensibly written.
Not sure what your point is, though. Was I in danger of forgetting? Would the
country of origin make a big difference to the meaning?
Steve Hayes
http://www.suite101.com/myhome.cfm/methodius
Matti Lamprhey
> "Matti Lamprhey" <matti-...@totally-official.com> wrote:
> >"Steve Hayes" <haye...@yahoo.com> wrote...
> >> [...]
> >>
> >> That's a Grand Poobah.
> >
> >Don't forget it was Briton-written, in a land where many claim to be
> >able to trace their descent to a primordial protoplasmal pre-atomic
> >globule.
>
> So, at the time, did many in east Asia, about which it was ostensibly
> written.
>
> Not sure what your point is, though. Was I in danger of forgetting? Would
> the country of origin make a big difference to the meaning?
The only point was the opportunity to quote that wonderful alliterative
line of Pooh-Bah's earlier in the work, for which much thanks.
Matti
iwasaki
Earle D Jones <earle...@home.com> wrote in message
news:earle.jones-C4E2...@news.palto1.sfba.home.com...
"Hancho/hanchou" is a plain, ordinary word, though it's not surprising
that you hadn't heard it while you were in Japan. Nowadays I don't
hear it used much, except at elementary school, where the teacher
tends to divide the class into several groups and calls the groups
"han" and the leaders of the groups "hancho". Japanese "hancho"
is not used for a big leader. Apparently, the meaning of English "honcho"
is a bit different from that of Japanese "hancho".
I don't know why your dictionaries don't have "hancho". All of my
Japanese dictionaries have it. Maybe because it's a compound word
so they might omit it.
--
Nobuko Iwasaki
Jacqui
> The Yahoo! company actually calls its chief executive "Chief Yahoo".
They also have meetings rooms named Denial and Coherent (etc.) so that
receptionists can legitimately say "he's in Denial".
Jac
R H Draney
news:3AFFEE50...@baa.hotmail.com...
Have a link to an expansion of that "etc."?...I'd be amazed if there weren't
also rooms called "Cognito" and "Communicado"....r
--
"It just *can't* be 2001! I'm still writing 19100 on all my checks!"
Spehro Pefhany
> "Jacqui" <Sirlawren...@baa.hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:3AFFEE50...@baa.hotmail.com...
>> Richard Fontana said:
>>
>> > The Yahoo! company actually calls its chief executive "Chief Yahoo".
>>
>> They also have meetings rooms named Denial and Coherent (etc.) so that
>> receptionists can legitimately say "he's in Denial".
> Have a link to an expansion of that "etc."?...I'd be amazed if there weren't
> also rooms called "Cognito" and "Communicado"....r
Or:
"Scrutable"
"Flammable"
"Visible"
"Verted"
"Eligible"
and, of course
"Conceivable"
Best regards,
--
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Spehro Pefhany --"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
sp...@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
Contributions invited->The AVR-gcc FAQ is at: http://www.BlueCollarLinux.com
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Jacqui
> R H Draney wrote:
> > Jacqui wrote
> >>
> >> > The Yahoo! company actually calls its chief executive "Chief Yahoo".
> >>
> >> They also have meetings rooms named Denial and Coherent (etc.) so that
> >> receptionists can legitimately say "he's in Denial".
>
> > Have a link to an expansion of that "etc."?...I'd be amazed if there weren't
> > also rooms called "Cognito" and "Communicado"....r
>
> Or:
> "Scrutable"
> "Flammable"
> "Visible"
> "Verted"
> "Eligible"
> and, of course
> "Conceivable"
No link offhand, I read it in a paper sometime last year, but ISTR that
"Comprehensible" was one of the others. I'll have a look for an online
source.
Jac
Jacqui
> Have a link to an expansion of that "etc."?...I'd be amazed if there weren't
> also rooms called "Cognito" and "Communicado"....r
: (in sparsely furnished conference rooms bearing names such as Decent
or
: Consistent--just so that people will be forced to say they are ''in
Decent'' or : ''in Consistent''
from http://www.businessweek.com/1998/36/b3594001.htm
Jac
masakim
"Earle D Jones" wrote:
>
> Why is neither "hancho" nor "honcho" in any of my three Japanese
> dictionaries?
>
> I lived in Tokyo from 1983 through 1994 and could find no one who
> used the expression. I was led to believe that it was a bastardized (by
> American GI's) version of "honbu" (main office) and "cho" (leader).
>
> Perhaps "hancho" is slang and therefore does not appear in formal
> Japanese dictionaries.
>
"Hancho" is not slang.
Every schoolboy knows it. Classes are often divided into groups ("han-wake")
and each group has a leader ("hancho").
In Japan there are neighborhood associations ("chonaikai"). Their
subdivisions are called "han" and their chiefs are "hancho."
In Chinese "Hancho" is "ban zhang" with similar meanings.
Almost all of my Japanese dicionaries and Japanese-English dictionaries
enter it. (J.C. Hepburn, _A Japanese-English and English-Japanese
Dictionary, Third Edition_ (1886) has neither "han" nor "hancho.")
For example, "Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Second edition"
(Shogakukan 1993) in _Shogakukan-Microsoft Bookshelf_ defines it: "a squad
(or group) leader."
Why is neither "hancho" nor "honcho" in any of your three Japanese
dictionaries?
I can't get it.
See Jim Breen's WWWJDIC at:
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/breen/wwwjdic?1E
hancho [originally written in kanji & kana] squad leader; honcho
> Kaho wa nete matte,
>
"Matte" reads "mate."
For those who can't know this Japanese proverb.
"Kaho wa nete mate" means "Good luck comes to him in time who sleeps and
waits."
Its English equivalents are:
Everything comes to him who waits.
The net of the sleeper catches fish.
There is luck in leisure.
Time brings everything to those who can wait for it.
Regards
masakim
R H Draney
Many thanks...(I suppose the existence of "Fatigable" would be too much to
hope for)....r
Skitt
"Robert Lieblich" <lieb...@erols.com> wrote in message
news:3AFD5438...@erols.com...
> Starcap 50 wrote:
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > Can somebody tell me exactly what a "Grand Poobah" is?
>
>
> Main Entry: pooh-bah
> Variant(s): also poo-bah /'pü-"bä, -"bo/
> Function: noun
> Usage: often capitalized P&B
> Etymology: Pooh-Bah, character in Gilbert and Sullivan's
> opera The
> Mikado (1885) bearing the title
> Lord-High-Everything-Else
> Date: 1888
> 1 : a person holding many public or private offices
> 2 : a person in high position or of great influence
>
> > I would guess that this is a slang term for the head of any one of these
men's
> > fraternal organizations, such as the Elks, Moose, etc. Again, this is
only a
> > guess.
>
> it's not particularly funny.
>
> [ . . . ]
>
> > Also, does "poobah" refer to any specific fraternal organizations?
>
> any organization as a title or name for a position.
>
> > For
> > example, would a leader of one fraternal organization be called a "Grand
> > Poobah" and a leader of another such organization be called something
else?
>
> Different organizations do use different titles, but, to repeat, I
> don't think any organization actually uses "Grand Poobah."
Tell that to Fred Flintstone!
--
Skitt (in SF Bay Area) http://i.am/skitt/
I speak English well -- I learn it from a book!
-- Manuel of "Fawlty Towers" (he's from Barcelona).
Skitt
Yup, my step-son confirms all of the above.