Who is the "Big Kahuna" in your life? The history of 10 iconic nicknames

When we look at how English speakers describe the people in charge, we find a colorful catalog of metaphors. Instead of using formal titles like "master" or "director", we have spent centuries inventing funny nicknames to describe the folks at the top. Many of these terms have fascinating histories. Some started on the stage, others in bowling alleys, and some in the courts of the 18th century. Here are 10 of the most famous nicknames used to refer to important people, along with the surprising stories of how they entered our vocabulary.

If you are the "top banana", you are the undisputed leader of an organization. The expression comes straight from the world of American burlesque and vaudeville of the early 20th century.

Comedy acts of the era often featured three performers. The lead comedian, the one who got the spotlight and the biggest laughs, was called the "top banana". The supporting comics were relegated to "second banana" and "third banana". Why a banana? The lead comic’s routine often involved a prop, and in many popular acts, a literal banana was handed over as a reward after a successful punch line.

Today, we associate "kingpin" with the leader of a cartel or a criminal enterprise. However, its origins are associated with sports. The term comes from the game of ninepins (an ancestor of modern bowling), dating back to the early 1800s.

The "kingpin" was the tallest, most central pin in the setup. If you managed to hit the kingpin right, it would knock down all the other pins, securing a perfect game. Because this single pin controlled the fate of all the others, the word naturally entered the English language to describe any highly influential person whose actions control an entire group.

We use "boss" so casually today that it hardly feels like slang, but its rise in American English was actually an act of political rebellion. "Boss" comes from the Dutch word baas, meaning "master".

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Dutch colonists settled in what is now New York. English-speaking workers adopted the word baas as a deliberate alternative to the traditional "master". In a young, democratic America, "master" felt far too servile and feudal. "Boss" allowed workers to acknowledge who was in charge without compromising their personal sense of pride.

When you want to describe the absolute highest authority in a hierarchy, you might call them the "big enchilada". While the culinary term "enchilada" is centuries old, using it to describe a powerful person is a mid-20th-century American political phenomenon.

The term entered the national consciousness during the 1973 Watergate scandal. In secretly recorded White House tapes, John Ehrlichman, an advisor to President Richard Nixon, was heard referring to former Attorney General John Mitchell as "the big enchilada". He meant that Mitchell was the key player, the main target, and the man who held all the cards. The phrase caught on instantly in the media and remained a popular way to describe a dominant leader.

If someone is referred to as the "Big Kahuna", they are the ultimate boss or the expert whose opinion carries the most weight. This term is borrowed directly from the Hawaiian language.

In traditional Hawaiian culture, a kahuna is a respected expert, priest, healer, or master craftsman. When Hawaii became a global surfing destination in the mid-20th century, the term drifted into surf slang. Legendary surfer Duke Kahanamoku was often called the "Big Kahuna". By the late 1950s and 60s, Hollywood surf movies exported "Big Kahuna" to the mainland, where it lost its spiritual meaning and became a nickname for any big boss.

In the world of politics and media, calling someone "Bigfoot" has absolutely nothing to do with searching for a mythical creature in the Pacific Northwest. This modern slang originated in American journalism of the late 1970s.

When a high-profile news story breaks in a small town, national news networks will often fly in their most famous journalists. These prominent reporters trump over the local journalists who had been covering the story first, taking over the prime airtime and top billing. Because they leave a huge footprint wherever they go, frustrated local reporters began calling these elite correspondents "Bigfoots".

Calling someone a "bigwig" is one of our oldest insults for a person who thinks they are incredibly important, and it has roots in historical fashion. The expression dates back to the 17th and 18th centuries, when powdered wigs (periwigs) were the prime style for wealthy people.

Wigs were incredibly expensive to buy and maintain. Naturally, the wealthier and more powerful a person was, the larger and more elaborate their wig would be. Bishops, judges, and aristocrats wore towering mounds of powdered hair on their heads. So, the working-class began referring to these elites as "bigwigs". Although the fashion died out, the insult survived.

To be a "kingfish" is to be an influential, often charismatic leader who dominates a local area or organization. Though the name originally refers to a predatory marine fish, it became a political nickname in the 1930s.

The term is tied to Huey P. Long, the powerful and controversial Governor and Senator of Louisiana. Long adopted the nickname "The Kingfish" himself, taking it from a character on the popular radio show Amos 'n' Andy. Long used the moniker to project a heroic persona to his supporters, becoming a clever tool of political branding.

A "big shot" is someone wealthy and influential. This expression became popular in the United States during the Prohibition era of the 1920s.

The term "big shot" was associated with gang violence. Mobsters who controlled the illegal alcohol trade were the "big shots", meaning they were the ones calling the shots and firing the weapons. Over time, the violent side of the term softened, leaving us with a playful way to describe anyone who holds a ton of influence.

If you are the "top dog", you are the winner, the leader. This idiom can be traced back to 19th-century sports.

In competitive arenas, the competitor that ended up on top of their opponent at the end of a match was crowned the "top dog". The loser, then, was the "underdog". The contrast between these two roles resonated so deeply with the public that both terms migrated into the English language to describe the winners and losers of life, business, and politics.

UKELELE, ANYONE?

Which Are The Most Insanely Difficult Musical Instruments To Learn?

Image: Rachael Cox

Every musical instrument has its own complexities and requires a certain amount of skill and dedication to master. But, as everyone knows, not every instrument is equally easy or hard to learn. Which of the following would you consider the most difficult? The violin, which requires the player to contort his or her hands in complicated positions for hours, or the theremin, which must be played in the air, without being able to use frets, or keys as a reference? Read on and learn about 10 complicated but ultimately beautiful instruments.

Image: Baher Khairy

We will start with an obvious choice here. The violin is a legendary instrument not just because of the range of expressiveness that it can convey but also because of the level of dexterity needed to play it.

One of the reasons behind this is that there are no guides on the violin for finger placement. With the violin, the lack of frets means that the player must rely on muscle memory to know exactly where to put their fingers.

Image: Kazuo ota

The french horn is a very beautiful instrument to look at, indeed. But that beauty comes, in part at least, from the intricate pattern of golden tubes and buttons that almost makes it look like a strange and ancient machine.

Playing the french horn requires a great deal of breath control, and it can be hard to figure out how to position the mouth to get the right pitch. The finger position of this instrument is also challenging. The high notes are relatively close to each other, which makes it difficult to tell the difference between them.

Image: Mohsen Taheri

If a piano and a bagpipe had a child, it would probably be an accordion. This instrument uses air pressure to create its notes and tones, which are played on a piano-style keyboard.

The reason an accordion is so difficult to play is that it requires a lot of different actions to happen simultaneously. Also, it can be quite heavy and tiring to play for long periods.

Image: Manuel Nägeli

Anyone who attempted to learn guitar and found it too difficult should steer clear of the harp. If six strings are hard, imagine having to play forty-seven strings, all of which are very close together.

Learning the exact position of each string and how to pluck it without plucking its neighboring strings is not a piece of cake.

Image: Johnny Cohen

Bagpipes require an extraordinary amount of air, which can be overwhelming for a beginner. Then there is the playing technique.

Grace notes are just about everywhere in Highland pipe music. As for that deafening sound, you’ll need a good pair of earplugs if you want to practice indoors.

Image: Michael Myers

The clarinet is a woodwind instrument, one of the hardest instruments to learn in its class. Its reed opening requires some good tongue and breath control to get a sound out.

Another major challenge many people cite is the finger holes, as closing these properly in time isn’t simple, and when even the tiniest bit of air is allowed in, the clarinet turns from sublime to squeaky or simply won’t make any sound whatsoever.

Image: Gilles Gravier

As we have seen in the previous examples, if the instrument looks hard to play, then it probably is. The oboe is similar to a clarinet but much bigger and it creates a brighter and clearer sound compared to the clarinet’s mellow tones.

The oboe is a double reed instrument that requires the player to control multiple things at the same time. It demands a lot from the mouth, lips, tongue, and breath because the sound of the instrument’s notes isn’t just controlled by finger placement. Also, an oboe player needs to learn to breathe through their nose while breathing out through their mouth.

Image: Cinescope Creative

If playing a keyboard instrument is hard, imagine having to play two keyboards and 25 brass pedals, all at the same time. Unless you are a master prog-rock keyboard player, an organ player, or some other virtuoso, the Hammond organ is a beast to be reckoned with.

Most people battle with the overwhelming number of moving parts that are required just to get a sound out of the organ, let alone a tune. This instrument requires a player with profound multitasking abilities, patience, coordination, and mental strength.

Image: Hao Zhang

Another instrument whose complexity becomes apparent when looking at it is the pipe organ. An instrument so big that it only fits inside huge buildings and requires intense coordination of the hands, feet, eyes, and ears, to play it effectively.

It takes a really long time to master the organ, and sometimes that mastery can be limited to only one specific machine since almost no two organs are the same.

Image: Mark Fletcher-Brown

Imagine playing an instrument you can’t even see, only hear. That is the theremin. Or, at least, that is the part of the instrument that you are supposed to play. No frets, no keys, nothing. Only the movement of your hands in the air, responding to the eerie sound.

The theremin is an extraordinarily sensitive instrument: the slightest loss of control will show up in the sound, as will any other interference in the instrument's electromagnetic field.