Grand Poobah: Difference between revisions
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[[File:BarringPooh.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Rutland Barrington]], the original Pooh-Bah]] |
[[File:BarringPooh.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Rutland Barrington]], the original Pooh-Bah]] |
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'''Grand Poobah''' is a term derived from the name of the haughty character Pooh-Bah in [[Gilbert and Sullivan]]'s ''[[The Mikado]]'' (1885).<ref>This character was based, in part, on [[James Planché]]'s Baron Factotum, the "Great-Grand-Lord-High-Everything" from ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood'' (1840). Williams (2010), p. 267</ref> In this [[comic opera]], Pooh-Bah holds numerous exalted offices, including "First Lord of the Treasury, Lord Chief Justice, Commander-in-Chief, Lord High Admiral ... Archbishop ... Lord Mayor" and "Lord High Everything Else". The name has come to be used as a mocking title for someone self-important or locally high-ranking and who either exhibits an inflated self-regard or who has limited authority while taking impressive titles.<ref name="mikado">[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pooh-bah "Pooh-bah"], ''Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary'', accessed 14 June 2009</ref> |
'''Grand Poobah''' is a term derived from the name of the haughty character Pooh-Bah in [[Gilbert and Sullivan]]'s ''[[The Mikado]]'' (1885).<ref>This character was based, in part, on [[James Planché]]'s Baron Factotum, the "Great-Grand-Lord-High-Everything" from ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood'' (1840). Williams (2010), p. 267</ref> In this [[comic opera]], Pooh-Bah holds numerous exalted offices, including "First Lord of the Treasury, Lord Chief Justice, Commander-in-Chief, Lord High Admiral ... Archbishop ... Lord Mayor" and "Lord High Everything Else". The name has come to be used as a mocking title for someone self-important or locally high-ranking and who either exhibits an inflated self-regard or who has limited authority while taking impressive titles.<ref name="mikado">[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pooh-bah "Pooh-bah"], ''Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary'', accessed 14 June 2009</ref> American writer [[William Safire]] wrote that "everyone assumes [the name] Pooh-Bah merely comes from [W. S. Gilbert] combining the two negative exclamations Pooh! plus Bah!"<ref>Safire, William. 1993. [https://books.google.ca/books?id=e14JAQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA5&pg=RA7-PA28 "Whence Poo-Bah"], ''Safire's Political Dictionary'', excerpted in ''GASBAG'' 24(3) issue 186:28–28</ref> |
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==In popular culture== |
==In popular culture== |
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* The character Howard Cunningham on the TV series ''[[Happy Days]]'' was a Grand Poobah of Leopard Lodge No. 462 in Milwaukee.<ref>Holmes, Linda. [https://www.npr.org/sections/monkeysee/2010/10/19/130674925 "RIP Tom Bosley, One Of TV's Great Dads"], National Public Radio, 19 October 2010, accessed 6 March 2018. See, e.g. episode #150, "Burlesque", aired 6 November 1979</ref> |
* The character Howard Cunningham on the TV series ''[[Happy Days]]'' was a Grand Poobah of Leopard Lodge No. 462 in Milwaukee.<ref>Holmes, Linda. [https://www.npr.org/sections/monkeysee/2010/10/19/130674925 "RIP Tom Bosley, One Of TV's Great Dads"], National Public Radio, 19 October 2010, accessed 6 March 2018. See, e.g. episode #150, "Burlesque", aired 6 November 1979</ref> |
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* American writer [[William Safire]] surmised that [[A. A. Milne]]s' invention of the name "[[Pooh Bear]]" may have been influenced by the character Poohbah.<ref>Safire, William. 1993. "[https://books.google.ca/books?id=e14JAQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA5&pg=RA7-PA28 Whence Poo-Bah]." ''GASBAG'' 24(3) issue 186:28–28.</ref> |
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{{Wiktionary|grand poobah|poobah}} |
{{Wiktionary|grand poobah|poobah}} |
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Revision as of 06:17, 28 September 2020
Grand Poobah is a term derived from the name of the haughty character Pooh-Bah in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado (1885).[1] In this comic opera, Pooh-Bah holds numerous exalted offices, including "First Lord of the Treasury, Lord Chief Justice, Commander-in-Chief, Lord High Admiral ... Archbishop ... Lord Mayor" and "Lord High Everything Else". The name has come to be used as a mocking title for someone self-important or locally high-ranking and who either exhibits an inflated self-regard or who has limited authority while taking impressive titles.[2] American writer William Safire wrote that "everyone assumes [the name] Pooh-Bah merely comes from [W. S. Gilbert] combining the two negative exclamations Pooh! plus Bah!"[3]
In popular culture
- The term "Grand Poobah" was used recurringly on the television show The Flintstones as the name of a high-ranking elected position in a secret society, the Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes. The main characters, Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, were members of the lodge. The lodge is a spoof of secret societies and men's clubs like the Freemasons, the Shriners, the Elks Club and the Moose Lodge.[4]
- The character Howard Cunningham on the TV series Happy Days was a Grand Poobah of Leopard Lodge No. 462 in Milwaukee.[5]
Look up grand poobah or poobah in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
See also
References
- ^ This character was based, in part, on James Planché's Baron Factotum, the "Great-Grand-Lord-High-Everything" from The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood (1840). Williams (2010), p. 267
- ^ "Pooh-bah", Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, accessed 14 June 2009
- ^ Safire, William. 1993. "Whence Poo-Bah", Safire's Political Dictionary, excerpted in GASBAG 24(3) issue 186:28–28
- ^ "Loyal Order of Water Buffalo", Grand Lodge Freemasonry site, 8 April 2004, accessed 14 September 2009
- ^ Holmes, Linda. "RIP Tom Bosley, One Of TV's Great Dads", National Public Radio, 19 October 2010, accessed 6 March 2018. See, e.g. episode #150, "Burlesque", aired 6 November 1979
Sources
- Williams, Carolyn (2010). Gilbert and Sullivan: Gender, Genre, Parody. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-14804-6.
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