Grand Poohbah

Grand Poohbah


I often use the name Grand Poohbah when referring to my father in law. All of his conversations revolve around his position in various groups. Over the weekend there was some debate on where the term originated. I remembered it from Happy Days.

This is what I found:

Grand Poobah
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Grand Poobah is a term that originates from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. In this operetta, the haughty character Pooh-Bah holds numerous exalted offices, including Lord Chief Justice, Master of the Buckhounds, Lord High Auditor, Groom of the Back Stairs, and Lord High Everything Else. The name has come to be used as a mocking title for someone self-important or high-ranking and who exhibits an inflated self-regard.

[edit] In popular culture
The expression "The Grand Pooh-Bah" was first introduced on the television show The Flintstones. Fred Flintstone and his friend Barney Rubble were members of the Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes Lodge No. 26. A high ranking elected position within this organization is Grand Poobah or Grand Imperial Poobah.

The character Howard Cunningham on the TV series Happy Days was a Grand Poobah of Leopard Lodge No. 462 in Milwaukee.

The Grand Poo-Bah is also a character in the Kingdom of Loathing online role playing game.


Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Poobah"