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WHAT IS the meaning and origin of "big cheese"?
(Malini Krishnan, Hyderabad)
When you refer to someone as being the "big cheese" it means that he is a very important person. He could be your boss, or the leader of some organization. Don't use this expression in a formal context because it is considered to be slang. Other expressions that have more or less the same meaning are "bigwig", "hotshot", "top banana", and "top dog". Here are a few examples.
*Neha got a note from the big cheese telling her to cancel her trip.
*I wouldn't say anything against Babu. He is the big cheese around here.
*The big cheese has promised to give everyone a raise.
As for the origin, well, you may be surprised to know that the "cheese" has nothing to do with the cheese we eat. The word is actually from the Hindi "chiz" meaning "thing". I understand that Anglo Indians used the word "chiz" quite a bit in their speech. Instead of saying "real thing" they used to say "real chiz". "My friend is the real chiz", meaning my friend is a genuine guy or a first rate guy. (It is quite possible that "real cheese" is a translation of the Hindi "asli chiz" meaning "real thing".) The word "chiz" was recorded in the Hobson-Jobson dictionary and it became quite popular in England in the 19th century. The Englishman replaced "chiz" with the more familiar "cheese". When the Americans got hold of the expression, "real cheese" became "big cheese". The Americans always like things big, don't they?
S. Upendran
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