Brouhaha
A brouhaha, from French brouhaha, is a state of social agitation when a minor incident gets out of control, sometimes referred to as an uproar or hubbub.[1]
Usage
Typically, a brouhaha is marked by controversy and fuss that can seem, afterwards, to have been pointless or irrational.
Example incidents
In one such instance, in New York City, a dispute between a clinic entitled Upper Breast Side (that gives advice to young mothers about breastfeeding and bras) and a condo association erupted into a legal battle and was described in the Boston Globe as a brouhaha.[2] The Washington Post described an incident as a brouhaha in which a passenger, on board a jetliner, reclined the seat to the point where it bothered a second passenger, resulting in a fistfight, intervention by flight attendants, and the plane returning to the airport escorted by fighter jets.[3] In another instance, politics surrounding the choice of bus lanes in Los Angeles erupted in ineffective squabbling that ultimately did not help efforts to improve public transit in the metropolis.[4]
See also
References
- ^ "brouhaha". The Free Dictionary. 2011-06-13. Retrieved 2011-06-13.
An uproar; a hubbub.
- ^ Joanna Weiss (March 20, 2011). "The baby and breast brouhaha". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2011-06-13.
Let's let the lawyers sort out the zoning disputes, and agree on this, instead: It's doubtful this brouhaha would have come up if babies and breasts weren't involved.
- ^ Staff writer (June 1, 2011). "Airplane annoyance leads to brouhaha in the skies over D.C." Washington Post. Retrieved 2011-06-13.
Before things got out of hand, it was a typical annoyance that happens once a flight gets airborne: A passenger hit the recline button and sent his seat intimately close to the lap of the guy sitting behind him. What followed wasn't typical at all: a smack to the head, peacemakers diving about the cabin to intervene and a pair of Air Force F-16 fighter jets scrambling into the night skies over Washington.
- ^ "A bus-only brouhaha: Bus-only lanes for Wilshire Boulevard are the latest casualty of the political wars over transit policy in L.A." Los Angeles Times. February 4, 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-13.
Ever wonder why L.A.'s public transit system seems haphazard, with rail lines that don't go where they're most needed and inadequate bus service? A political battle over bus-only lanes on Wilshire Boulevard serves as an instructive example of the ways the best-designed plans of transit engineers are often thwarted.
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