{"id":24167,"date":"2011-12-02T16:57:04","date_gmt":"2011-12-02T23:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=24167"},"modified":"2011-12-02T16:57:04","modified_gmt":"2011-12-02T23:57:04","slug":"whats-all-this-brouhaha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/02\/whats-all-this-brouhaha.html","title":{"rendered":"What’s all this brouhaha?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been using the term “brouhaha” — sometimes in public — for decades, since I was introduced to it by the Firesign Theater’s “The Further Adventures of Nick Danger, Third Eye<\/a>” skit. \u00a0It means kerfuffle, dust-up, clamor, contentious confusion, hubbub (bub).<\/p>\n

So today I happened to run across this article<\/a>\u00a0by Marc Tracy, indicating that, well, the word has a less-than-savory origin. Maybe.<\/p>\n

I received a lovely email recently from one Bonny Fetterman. \u201cI wonder if you are aware of the etymology of the word \u2018brouhaha\u2019 because if you were, you probably wouldn\u2019t have used it in this title,\u201d she wrote (I had\u00a0typed\u00a0it in reference to, of all things, the ADL). She continued, citing her high school teacher: \u201cIt was an anti-Semitic term in France, based on the words of Hebrew prayer, \u2018Baruch atah<\/em>\u00a0\u2026 \u2019 which sounded like a confused mess to Frenchmen passing synagogues and came to signify a loud, confused mess.\u201d Wait,\u00a0really<\/em>?<\/p>\n

[…]\u00a0Ms. Fetterman pointed me to Merriam-Webster, which reports, \u201cetymologists have connected the French derivation to that frequently recited Hebrew phrase, distorted to something like \u2018brouhaha\u2019 by worshippers whose knowledge of Hebrew was limited. Thus, once out of the synagogue, the word first meant \u2018a noisy confusion of sound\u2019\u2014a sense that was later extended to refer to any tumultuous and confused situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

[…]\u00a0According to Ms. Fetterman, \u201cI bristle every time I hear the term,\u201d and so out of respect to her and other linguists among our readers, we will try to refrain from using it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Huh.<\/p>\n

Now, I have no desire to cause “bristling,” or to perpetuate “an anti-Semetic term.”<\/p>\n

On the other hand … is this really a … brouhaha?<\/p>\n

Let’s look at that etymology again.<\/p>\n

The Online Etymology Dictionary<\/a> says: 1890, from Fr. brouhaha (1550s), said by Gamillscheg to have been, in medieval theater, “the cry of the devil disguised as clergy.” Perhaps from Heb. barukh habba’ “blessed be the one who comes,” used on public occasions (cf. Psalm 118). \u00a0<\/em>Word Detective gives a similar origin<\/a>. As does Wiktionary<\/a>\u00a0and the Merriam-Webster Word of the Day<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0World-Wide Words<\/a> mentions the origin, but entertains copious doubts.<\/p>\n

The reason for all the “perhaps” and doubt is that the word may<\/em> simply be onomatopoeic (which, I will have you know, I just typed correctly without spell-checking). (WWW also offers an alternative that it’s associated with bull-fighting.)<\/p>\n

That said, \u00a0none of these cases seem particularly negative.\u00a0That 16th Century (or earlier) French didn’t understand a Hebrew prayer, and distored it to mean, in general, a “noisy confusion” isn’t altogether surprising. \u00a0Nor does it seem (to me) particularly perjorative, any more than\u00a0hocus-pocus<\/a><\/em>\u00a0or bedlam<\/a><\/em> are anti-Christian, or that\u00a0barbarian<\/a><\/em>\u00a0is anti-Persian.<\/p>\n

If it’s true that it was used in Medieval theater in a negative fashion (the cry of the devil “Brouhaha!” — or, perhaps, “Brou, ha, ha!”) that’s problematic — but it’s certainly not a meaning that anyone uses today (when it means much more its original “hubbub” origin). \u00a0Does that mean it shouldn’t be used? \u00a0Should we drop “Hip, hip, hooray!<\/a>” for a (possible) similarly dark origin?<\/p>\n

One might argue that if someone takes offense, then regardless of the reason, good or bad, that offense should be taken into consideration and avoided. \u00a0There’s something to say for that (especially from the HR Department), but that’s also the same sort of logic that takes us into controversies over the term<\/a> niggardly<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

With all due respect to Mr Tracy and Ms Fetterman, I have to disagree with dropping use of brouhaha<\/em>. It’s a fine word with a commonly accepted and useful meaning, whose past associations are innocent at best and wholly obsolete at worst. I am unconvinced that I shouldn’t be using it, or that there are a significant number of people to whom it is offensive, and so I intend to continue its use here at DDtB.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been using the term “brouhaha” — sometimes in public — for decades, since I was introduced to it by the Firesign Theater’s “The Further Adventures of Nick Danger, Third Eye” skit. \u00a0It means kerfuffle, dust-up, clamor, contentious confusion, hubbub (bub). So today I happened to run across this article\u00a0by Marc Tracy, indicating that, well, … Continue reading “What’s all this brouhaha?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[24,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing-and-language","category-zt-pc"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":132605,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/01\/21\/the-axanar-brouhaha-seems-to-have-been-settled.html","url_meta":{"origin":24167,"position":0},"title":"The Axanar brouhaha seems to have been settled","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 21-Jan-17 11:25am","format":false,"excerpt":"The Prelude movie, and a two-part Axanar feature will be posted on YouTube -- without any ads or other commercial inducements.The Axanar makers will admit they stomped all over CBS\/Paramount's intellectual property. CBS\/Paramount will stop looking so much like ungrateful bullies. The Axanar makers will stop looking like creeps who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3288,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/12\/30\/odd_lotts.html","url_meta":{"origin":24167,"position":1},"title":"Odd Lotts","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 30-Dec-02 10:49am","format":false,"excerpt":"The (so far) last word (or image) on the Trent Lott brouhaha. Nice....","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":129387,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/07\/when-is-a-militia-not-a-militia.html","url_meta":{"origin":24167,"position":2},"title":"When is a militia not a "militia"?","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 7-Jan-16 9:46pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The Oxford Dictionaries gives us a look at the word \"militia\" (and the word \"terrorist\"), in relationship to the Oregon brouhaha. (Just a side note: you can be a \"family man\" and \"concerned citizen\" and still be a \"terrorist.\" The terms are not exclusive.)I've been avoiding the use of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8229,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/01\/17\/confluence_6.html","url_meta":{"origin":24167,"position":3},"title":"Confluence","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 17-Jan-06 12:17pm","format":false,"excerpt":"A combination of major job assignments cropping up like huge, carnivorous toadstools, combined with irksome levels of angst over recent CoH coalition brouhaha, not to mention my last Vestry meeting...","rel":"","context":"In "Gaming"","block_context":{"text":"Gaming","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/gaming"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":128806,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/11\/14\/names-mean-things-2.html","url_meta":{"origin":24167,"position":4},"title":"Names Mean Things","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 14-Nov-15 6:15pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I am usually a bit leery about changes in nomenclature, as they almost always have a purpose to change the meaning of things. I missed this article a year ago about re-dubbing ISIL (ISIS, IS) as \"Daesh\" -- a word that serves as an actual acronym for the group, as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":129340,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/04\/more-on-the-oregon-brouhaha.html","url_meta":{"origin":24167,"position":5},"title":"More on the Oregon brouhaha","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 4-Jan-16 12:57pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The legal story behind this is actually an interesting story of zealous lawmakers, unintended consequences, bad labels, zealous prosecutors, mandatory sentencing, and public and private land use issues. 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