[Ads-l] "big cheese" 1815

[Jonathan Lighter]

Need I add that I'm skeptical of both the Scottish and Kiwi exx.?

Especially since "Big Highland Cheese" includes a very unusual tmesis,
which seems to suggest that "big cheese" was already lexicalized and
familiar.

Just my 2c.

JL

On Mon, May 29, 2023 at 3:51 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> FWIW, big cheeses were sometimes a big deal.
>
> 1802 The Wasp (Hudson, N.Y.) (July 31) 2: The following Toast, drank [sic]
> by the Cheshire folks, who made the big Cheese [sic] for Mr.
> Jefferson....May the splendour of the Republican SUN continue to eclipse
> the twinklings of the Western Lightning Bug.
>
> 1828 Poulson's American Daily Advertiser (Phila.) (Nov. 14, 1828) 3: "A
> BIG CHEESE. The Berkshire American states that Mr. Israel Cole, of North
> Adams, has made a "hundred pound cheese to be presented to Jackson in case
> he was elected President."
>
> 1885 Buffalo [N.Y.] Evening News (Nov. 7) 4: "FREE SHOW!" The Two Big
> Cheese [sic] CITY OF BUFFALO, 3398 lbs.,  VILLAGE OF AURORA 3394 lbs., Are
> now on exhibition at our store.
>
> JL
>
> On Mon, May 29, 2023 at 2:14 PM Steven Losie <stevenlosie at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> In case nobody has seen it, Green's Dictionary of Slang cites an 1885
>> newspaper article in New Zealand for "big cheese":
>>
>> [begin quote]
>> What attraction is there for Ken at the manager’s? Is it to see that big
>> cheese?
>> [end quote]
>> Source: Observer and Freelance (Wellington, NZ) 5 Sept. 1885 p.4/2
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>


-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org