{{Short description|Satirical term for self-important local officials}} {{Redirect|Poobah|the American rock band|Poobah (band)}} {{for|the American hip hop artist|Grand Puba}} [[File:BarringPooh.jpg|thumb|upright|Rutland Barrington, who originated the role of Pooh-Bah]] '''Grand Poobah''' is a term derived from the name of the haughty, prideful character Pooh-Bah in Gilbert and Sullivan's ''The Mikado'' (1885).<ref>This character was based, in part, on Baron Factotum, the "Great-Grand-Lord-High-Everything" from James Planché's play ''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> 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."<ref>Safire, William. [https://books.google.com/books?id=e14JAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA7-PA28 "Whence Poo-Bah"], ''Safire's Political Dictionary'', excerpted in ''GASBAG'', Vol. 24, No. 3, issue 186, p. 28, January–February 1993</ref>
==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.<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> 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.<ref>[http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/fiction/fraternities/buffalo.html "Loyal Order of Water Buffalo"], Grand Lodge Freemasonry site, 8 April 2004, accessed 14 September 2009</ref><ref>[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"], Me TV, 11 December 2015</ref> The title has been associated ironically with real-world people, sometimes used facetiously in self-reference,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Scruggs |first1=Gregory |title=Meet Seattle's ‘Grand Poobah of Powder,’ whose forecasts have powered snow sports for 25 years |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/life/outdoors/grand-poobah-of-powder-this-seattle-mans-snow-reports-have-powered-winter-sports-for-25-years/ |access-date=September 23, 2023 |work=The Seattle Times |date=December 6, 2021}}</ref> sometimes to praise someone,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Vandenberg |first1=Todd |title=Three reasons I’m thankful for Seahawks GM John Schneider |url=https://12thmanrising.com/2022/11/24/seahawks-thankful-john-schneider |access-date=September 23, 2023 |work=12th Man Rising |date=November 24, 2022}}</ref> and at other times to criticize an organizational leader for being overbearing.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Segal |first1=Jonathan |title=The Grand Poobah at Work |url=https://blog.shrm.org/blog/the-grand-poobah-at-work |access-date=September 23, 2023 |work=SHRM |date=April 8, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=‘Hypocrisy, Elon Musk be thy name’: Mehdi Hasan as Twitter complies with Turkey’s censorship demands |url=https://scroll.in/video/1049117/hypocrisy-elon-musk-be-thy-name-mehdi-hasan-as-twitter-complies-with-turkeys-censorship-demands |access-date=September 23, 2023 |work=Scroll.in |date=May 15, 2023}}</ref>
{{Wiktionary|grand poobah|poobah}}
==See also== * Dual mandate
==References== {{Reflist}} * {{cite book|last=Williams|first=Carolyn|year=2010|title=Gilbert and Sullivan: Gender, Genre, Parody|location=New York|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-14804-7}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{The Mikado}}
Category:Fictional titles Category:Gilbert and Sullivan Category:The Flintstones Category:Fraternity and sorority culture
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