[Ads-l] The Big Cheese (Important Person) online

Bill Mullins amcombill at HOTMAIL.COM
Thu Feb 22 20:53:51 UTC 2024


I don't recall the original discussion.  But I would have mentioned that the 1940s superhero "Captain Marvel" (the one that is with DC, not the Marvel one) was routinely referred to as "The Big Red Cheese".   I don't know when the term was first used, but it goes back pretty early in the series:

https://www.cbr.com/captain-marvel-big-red-cheese/




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Cohen, Gerald Leonard gcohen at MST.EDU
Mon Feb 19 20:09:51 UTC 2024

Dear members of ads-l,

Last spring several of you contributed information
about the expression the big cheese (important person),
and I compiled all that I had on the subject for the
Oct. 2023 issue of Comments on Etymology.
Due credit is of course given.

Recently I put it online for the easy access of anyone
interested:
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/artlan_phil_facwork/298/

Gerald Cohen

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


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