Big Cheese




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Big Cheese : Phrases



Meaning:

Boss or important person.


Example:

The employees waited with bated breath for the weekly diatribe session with the big cheese.


Origin:

Originating around 1890, this phrase is derived from the British expression the cheese meaning the thing or the correct thing or the best. The British expression itself is a corruption of the Persian chiz (cheez) thing that the British brought back from India around 1840. A big cheese has nothing to do with cheese and should more properly be a big chiz.

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