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Brouhaha

Hardeehar.

Dear WD: The other night on TV I heard David Letterman refer to some controversy as a “great brouhaha.” Is this a real word, and if so, where did it come from? — K.W., New York, NY.

Yes, “brouhaha” is a real word, meaning “fuss,” “argument” or “ruckus.” “Brouhaha” comes to English directly from French, where it originally meant “noisy chattering.” It is probably what linguists call an “echoic” or “imitative” word, the “haha” in particular imitating the sound of a noisy squabble. Today we use it to mean a dispute that produces more noise than substance — a “brouhaha” rarely amounts to a serious debate or even scandal. Madonna’s pathetic antics, for instance, produce one “brouhaha” after another, yet no one aside from hard-core MTV viewers pays much attention any more.

“Ruckus,” by the way, is another funny-sounding word with an interesting history. It’s actually a blend of two words, “rumpus” and “ruction,” with very different origins. “Rumpus” was coined by 18th century German and Swiss students to describe a riot or uproar, and lives on today in our phrase “rumpus room,” a place in the house where children are allowed to run wild. “Ruction” means pretty much the same thing as “rumpus,” but has a somewhat grimmer origin. The original “ruction” was the Irish Insurrection of 1798, a violent agrarian rebellion. By the early 19th century, “insurrection” had been cropped to “ruction,” and the word became a popular synonym for any violent and destructive quarrel or disturbance. As “rumpus” and “ruction” came to be combined in common usage, the cheerier tone of “rumpus” overcame the grim legacy of “ruction,” and a “ruckus” today is little more than a “brouhaha” — much ado about nearly nothing.

3 comments to Brouhaha

  • Theresa Whitlow

    Etymology is a hobby of mine and I have a theory on the origin of the word, OUCH. In a 1926 or 28 Noah Webster dictionary (I lost in a house fire) I had looked up the word “ouch” and it had something to do with the awarding or pinning-on of a brooch(es). The definition had something to do with “being covered with ouches”. It seems to me, that considering a brooch has a stick pin, that someone being given a special, perhaps Royal brooch(es), would say “ouch” had they been stuck. Right?
    In later dictionaries, I have searched and there is no mention of this association any longer.However, I always felt that there was an etymological association between brooch and “being covered with ouches”, as described in this older Webster definition. Please note that I am a German lady, so I am familiar with the link to the German root.
    We actually say “aua” phonetic= Ow-uh
    Or “aua aua” when surprised by a sudden pain.
    Perhaps this (1926 definition) will lead to other analyses of where the word ‘ouch’ and how the word ‘ouch’ originated. Thank-you… And please use my email to let me know if you happen to find any further information in this direction.
    Respectfully, Lee Whitlow

  • Lucy

    What about the Spanish word for witch, “bruja”?

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