Grand Poobah Explained

Grand Poobah is a satirical 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] The 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!, typical put-downs from a typical bureaucrat."^[3]

Other uses

The title "Grand Poobah" was used recurrently 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. Similarly, Howard Cunningham, a character on the TV series Happy Days, was a Grand Poobah of Leopard Lodge No. 462 in Milwaukee.^[4] These fictional lodges were a spoof of secret societies and men's clubs like the Freemasons, the Shriners, the Elks Club and the Moose Lodge.^{[5] [6]} The title has been associated ironically with real-world people, sometimes used facetiously in self-reference,^[7] sometimes to praise someone,^[8] and at other times to criticize an organizational leader for being overbearing.^{[9] [10]}

See also

• Dual mandate

Sources

• Book: Williams, Carolyn. 2010. Gilbert and Sullivan: Gender, Genre, Parody. New York. Columbia University Press. 978-0-231-14804-7.

Notes and References

1. 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
2. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pooh-bah "Pooh-bah"
3. Safire, William. "Whence Poo-Bah", Safire's Political Dictionary, excerpted in GASBAG, Vol. 24, No. 3, issue 186, p. 28, January–February 1993
4. 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
5. http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/fiction/fraternities/buffalo.html "Loyal Order of Water Buffalo"
6. https://www.metv.com/lists/10-fictional-fraternal-lodges-and-secret-societies-from-tv-shows "10 fictional fraternal lodges and secret societies from TV shows"
7. News: Scruggs . Gregory . Meet Seattle's ‘Grand Poobah of Powder,’ whose forecasts have powered snow sports for 25 years . September 23, 2023 . The Seattle Times . December 6, 2021.
8. News: Vandenberg . Todd . Three reasons I’m thankful for Seahawks GM John Schneider . September 23, 2023 . 12th Man Rising . November 24, 2022.
9. News: Segal . Jonathan . The Grand Poobah at Work . September 23, 2023 . SHRM . April 8, 2019.
10. News: ‘Hypocrisy, Elon Musk be thy name’: Mehdi Hasan as Twitter complies with Turkey’s censorship demands . September 23, 2023 . Scroll.in . May 15, 2023.