big cheese

[GUEST2008]

Hi

Is this expression (big cheese) used or is it old fashioned? If it's old fashioned which one is most popular?

 

[FreeToyInside]

I don't think it's particularly old fashioned, just very slangy and not often used.

The big cheese
The big kahuna
The head honcho

These are all the same, and in AmE I think I hear "head honcho" the most. Maybe there's another even more popular (or at least more often used) expression that I can't think of right now.


(not a teacher, just a language lover)

 

[GUEST2008]

big shot, maybe?

 

[SoothingDave]

No, a big shot is an important person, but he need not be the boss.

 

[GUEST2008]

No, a big shot is an important person, but he need not be the boss.

Does "big cheese" have to be a boss? The definition says: important, influential person.

 

[FreeToyInside]

Big shot is a good one, yes, and you hear it more often than the others. The only thing is that it can (often) have a tone to it where the person being called 'big shot' is also being judged negatively by the speaker.

"He thinks he's a real big shot with his expensive clothes and fancy cars."

I don't get that from the other expressions.


(not a teacher, just a language lover)