Theos-Talk Archives (December 1995 Message tl00514)

reply to Ann
>
>Pooh-Bah or pooh-bah p!'ba' noun
>1. A pompous ostentatious official especially one who holding many
>offices fulfills none of them.
>2. A person who holds high office.
>[After Pooh-Bah Lord-High-Everything-Else a character in The Mikado by W.S.
>Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan.]
>
>The American HeritageR Dictionary of the English Language Third Edition
>copyright C 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from
>InfoSoft International Inc. All rights reserved.
>

thanks for the definition... I thought it was an old Masonic slang term!

we use this term at our lodge whenever we get "official" visits from
various Grand Lodge "Dignitaries". It is not really derogatory but
used as a fill-in when people forget the "official" titles. It is always taken
in good humour. taken in jest when formalities are getting absurd.

====================

sample conversation:

lodge brother: I hear we are having an official visit from someone from grand
lodge?
Tyler: oh-oh which pooh-bah is it this time?
lodge brother: not sure let's ask our "Worshipful Master". Worshipful! - who is
coming to visit us tonight??
W.Master: it's brother Billy from Egypt Lodge #331; the peanut farmer from
Rock Hill.
lodge brother: great! I haven't seen him for three months! is his wife's
arthritis still bothering her alot?
W.Master: last I heard she is doing alot better. Brother Jimmy i.e. doc Smith
has her on some new anti-inflammatory.
Tyler: So what do I call him?? Lodge opens in 03 minutes...
W.Master: well.. he is the current district lecturer. So it must be something
like "Grand District Lecturer". We better ask someone who knows.
Tyler: let's ask our certified lecturer John-boy. John-boy! what pooh-bah
is this one?
John-Boy: um... "Honorable Brother William A. Bean Grand Lodge Lecturer
for District 12 from the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons
in the Noble State of North Carolina"
jem-> or something like that
Tyler: uhh ... say again??

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peace -

john mead