brouhaha
noun

- hubbub, uproar

- a stir; a fuss or uproar

- a loud confused noise; commotion; uproar

- an overexcited response to something that turns out to be far less important than the noise implies

Merriam-Webster, Collins English Dictionary,  Dictionary Com, Wiktionary

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WORD ORIGIN

English borrowed brouhaha directly from French at the end of the nineteenth century — the late 1800s. The French word is far older, attested from the sixteenth century. In French religious drama it seems to have been a noise made by the devil, who cried “brou, ha, ha!”.

Then comes the controversial theory. The Swiss linguist Walther von Wartburg proposed that it derives from the Hebrew barukh habba, “welcome” — literally “blessed be the one who comes” — a phrase that appears in the Psalms and is used in synagogue prayer and at Jewish weddings.

The idea is that French ears, catching this chanted phrase without understanding it, heard only a confused murmur. Other linguists think a Hebrew derivation is simply wrong, and the matter remains disputed among etymologists. A competing view holds the word is plainly onomatopoeic — sound imitating sound.

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THE OFFICE BROUHAHA

Every workplace has one.

The photocopier breaks down. Someone moves the coffee machine. A new seating plan appears. Before long, emails are flying, people are taking sides and the corridor conversations are in full swing. For a few days, you'd think the future of the organisation depended on it.

Meanwhile, the work that really matters carries on waiting.

Small issues often become big because they're easy to argue about. Everyone has an opinion on where the printer should go. It's much harder to tackle poor leadership, unclear priorities or a failing business strategy.

That's why brouhaha is such a useful word. It reminds us that noise and importance are not the same thing. The loudest argument in the office is often about the smallest problem.

The next time a minor dispute takes over the workplace, ask yourself: is this the real issue—or just this week's brouhaha?



Helga & Paul Smith

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SYNONYMS

ado, BROUHAHA, commotion, controversy, flap, foofaraw, furor, fuss, hoopla, hubbub, hullabaloo, kerfuffle, row, ruckus, ruction, stir, tumult, uproar

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“What was the biggest public BROUHAHA you remember from the past five years? How much of it still matters today—and how much was simply noise?”

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