Big Cheese

Where Are the Azaleas?

Yesterday, I went to Hwangmaesan (mountain) to see azaleas. Unfortunately, only about 10% of them were open. It was still a nice hike and a beautiful mountain. I went on a Wednesday because I don’t like being around a lot of people and when there is a festival, a lot of people show up. There are less people on a weekday though. It is kind of a long drive, but I would consider going back this year if I had time. However, next Wednesday, the big cheese told us that we have to pick up garbage. Occasionally, we do volunteer work for my job. We call it volun-told because we don’t have a choice. Since we are a government organization, we have to ‘give back’ to the community.

 

 

Meaning

The big cheese is an important person. They may have authority or power over the people around them. Context is important with this phrase as it can be used to talk about the most important person in the room or used in a joking / derogatory / sarcastic manner.

Example: Shhh… the big cheese is coming and you know he doesn’t like us talking at work.

 

 

Origin #1 - Urdu

Cheese production is believed to be up to 10,000 years old. There is evidence of cheese making from ancient Egypt 4,000 years ago. However, big cheese likely comes from the Urdu word, chiz. Chiz means a thing. The British came into contact with Urdu through the colonization of India. The Anglo-Indians used chiz (by 1818) to describe something that is real or genuine. It is from this meaning that the phrase the real chiz became popular.

When the real chiz made its way to England, chiz turned into the more familiar word, cheese. Hence, the real cheese. Some people also believe that native English speakers misheard chiz during colonization. Either way, over the real chiz morphed the big cheese.

 

 

Origin #2 - Mammoth Cheese

Another explanation is more literal. Big cheese, meaning an important person, may be American in origin dating to 1914. Giant wheels of cheese were used for publicity stunts. An important person would cut the cheese, sharing it with the people who attended the event. Famously, Thomas Jefferson received a 560kg cheese when he was president in 1802. It was the first time mammoth was used as an adjective. Andrew Jackson received an even larger cheese weighing 635kg. It stayed in the White House for 2 years until Jackson had a large public party to celebrate George Washington’s birthday. He served the cheese to the attendees and it was gone in 2 hours. Reportedly, the White House smelled awful for months afterwards. The tradition of cutting a big cheese spread around the country, especially in dairy communities like Wisconsin. If someone wanted to get publicity, they could get a big cheese and cut it up for the public. A person who used a big cheese for publicity was seen as self-important. Over time, big cheese would be used to describe a self-important person. It had a negative implication.

 

 

Incidentally, cutting the cheese is also an idiom. It is a way to describe a fart. It comes from the smell emitted by (cheap) cheese when it is cut. It smells bad. It would be convenient that this idiom also comes from cutting the big cheese. I can imagine a foul odor wafting through the town center when someone important wanted to be acknowledged. However, cut the cheese does not appear until much later, possibly the 1950s.

See Also: Narcissist, April Showers

 

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Resources:

https://nationalhistoriccheesemakingcenter.org/history-of-cheese/
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/01/origin-expression-big-cheese-four-common-expressions/
https://www.etymonline.com/word/cheese
https://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/27/messages/924.html
https://npg.si.edu/blog/big-cheese-presidential-gifts-mammoth-proportions
https://www.norfolkandtillsonburgnews.com/2017/06/19/big-cheese-the-ultimate-publicity-stunt
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/07/13/an-edible-token-esteem-pound-cheese-given-thomas-jefferson/
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/64350.html
https://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-big1.htm