Word: poobah
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...dive," as in a bad or dangerous restaurant or bar, and "hyper." Occasional usage notes do slip into an unpleasant pedantic style: "Careful writers use dived rather than dove in the past tense." But even less frequent notes on the origin or phrases turn up interesting information; the term "poobah," for example, a person who holds many offices at once, comes from a character in Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado...
...fraternity, you are expected to absorb quite a different education in addition to the one you get at the Institute. "You learn to get along with other guys here, to work with them and have fun with them," says Smilin' John, the "Alpha"--Greek for Grand Illustrious Poobah. "Responsibility" is a word Smilin' John barks at his charges with the regularity of a firm coxswain. "It might be true that you lose some independence here, but we all come to agree that it's for a good cause," he says...
...suffered perhaps 80-odd speakers where half that number might have better served. Probably we could have done without contributions made by the circulation manager for a Boston tabloid, the biologist who touted a miracle bug-killer (in which, it developed, he held some proprietary interest), the Time-Life poobah who saw no First Amendment dangers in newsmen being required to surrender their notes or tapes to Big Brother's agents in Washington, or the faculty-tie who severely lobbied in behalf of Foundations remaining untaxed despite those many abuses revealed by Congressman Wright Patman. President Pusey sat with...
...saxophone-like effects with it. On his first album, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (Elektra), he not only blows a wild-sweet harp but also shows that he is one of the best young bluesmen around by singing the likes of Shake Your Money-Maker and Thank You Mr. Poobah, vigorously backed by guitars, drums, organ and bass...
...subcommittee report, Meany-inspired in its aim and its reasoning, was followed by a comment from the AFL's grand poobah himself: "In the last two or three years," Meany said of Randolph, "he's gotten close to these militant groups and he's given up cooperation for propaganda...