January 16, 1997

brouhaha

Well I am not really sure how it is even spelled, which is probably why I can't find it in the dictionary. The word is "brewhaha." I have heard it a lot and not always in the same content. Most commonly used as "that was some brewhaha last night." So, I assume it means a get-together or party. What do you know about this word?

Brouhaha, as it is usually spelled, means 'turmoil; clamor; uproar; hubbub; confusion'. So it could certainly be applied to a busy party, but that would be a specific application of the word. Furthermore, brouhaha is normally used of unpleasant examples of confusion; using it to talk about a noisy but fun party would be considered unusual.

Brouhaha is a borrowing from French; it is first found in English in the late nineteenth century. In French the word goes back to the sixteenth-century French drama, where characters dressed up as the devil cried "brou, ha, ha!" Its earlier history is uncertain. It may simply be an expressive or echoic coinage.

One theory, proposed by the etymologist Walther von Wartburg, is that it comes from the Hebrew phrase barukh habba 'blessed be he who comes', which is frequently used in both prayers and to welcome people to public ceremonies, such as weddings. The sense 'confusion' arose by association of the phrase with noisy celebrations. Unbelievable as this etymology may seem, it is well-supported and has been widely accepted. The Hebrew phrase is in fact common; it appears several times in the Book of Psalms, for example. Most notably, a dialectal form of Italian has the word barruccaba, also meaning 'confusion', and clearly borrowed from the Hebrew phrase. Other words in other languages also show that words from Hebrew prayers were used in senses like 'confusion' or 'chattering', thus supporting the semantics of the suggestion.

Brouhaha is relatively common today, but can sound somewhat old-fashioned. It does pop up in a brilliant slang word which you are all encouraged to use: brewhaha 'a beer', punning on brouhaha and brew 'a beer'. It sounds much more fun than brewski, and this way you'll get to talk about the Hebrew text of the Bible. What could be better?