Grand Poobah

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Grand Poobah is derived from the name of the haughty character Pooh-Bah in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado (1885). In this comic opera, Pooh-Bah holds numerous exalted offices, including "First Lord of the Treasury, Lord Chief Justice, Commander-in-Chief, Lord High Admiral... Archbishop of Titipu, and Lord Mayor" and Lord High Everything Else. The name has come to be used as a mocking title for someone self-important or high-ranking and who either exhibits an inflated self-regard or who has limited authority while taking impressive titles.^[1]

The term was alluded to on the television show The Flintstones. Fred Flintstone and his friend Barney Rubble were members of the Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes Lodge No. 26. The lodge is a spoof of men's clubs like the Freemasons, the Shriners, the Elks Club and the Moose Lodge. A high ranking elected position within this organization is Grand Poobah or Grand Imperial Poobah.^[2]

The character Howard Cunningham on the TV series Happy Days was a Grand Poobah of Leopard Lodge No. 462 in Milwaukee. The Grand Poo-Bah is also a character in the Kingdom of Loathing online role playing game.^{[citation needed]}

In 2009, many comparisons between Poobah and Peter Mandelson, Lord High Everything Else in the Labour government in Britain were made.^{[citation needed]}

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