Brawlin’ Brouhaha.
The word embraces two sides of an invisible line somewhere. A ‘brouhaha’ is a uproar and hubbub of some sort, there’s no doubt about that. But, even if the word might make you think of cold brews and a good laugh, the particular shade of that uproar, however, is up to debate. It’s not all bubbles and blow jobs.
Many definitions focus on the sounds and sights of a brouhaha. But most contain a hint of the negative, though. Here it’s a “commotion” or a “confused noise”, there it’s “clamor” or “confusion” over a “minor or ridiculous cause.” There are other signs of the dark side. Synonyms like “fracas” and “melee,” for one. And the origin, from French:
Origin:
1885–90; < French, orig. brou, ha, ha! exclamation used by characters representing the devil in the 16th-cent. drama; perhaps < Hebrew, distortion of the recited phrase bārūkh habbā ( beshēm ădhōnai ) “blessed is he who comes (in the name of the Lord)” (Ps. 118:26)
There’s definitely something to this. To call something a brouhaha is to belittle it slightly.
We can follow the same path of discovery if we start our game of google baseball: brouhaha. Plenty of uproars. Fights! Cheating! Violence against old men! Angry old men doing violence! You know, your typical baseball-related uproars.
But then you run into a few references that give you pause. The sort of thing that makes you think “they’re using this silly word because this whole thing is not very serious.” Like, to talk about the brouhaha between Dusty Baker and Bobby Valentine about icing a reliever while on a goodwill tour in Japan, that is to take slight digs at the whole situation. Or when the word is used to as a transition between a World Series win and a Quidditch match, you know it means the author is laughing inside just a little bit. But when you see the word used to describe a fictional tournament between “the most scandalous juice-heads in the business,” you hear the derisive tone loud and clear.
In the end, though, we know that alliteration wins the day, even (especially?) when used in a derogatory fashion. And so therefore, this poem from Schech’s Place represents a home run in today’s google: baseball brouhaha.
BASEBALL BROUHAHA
When beer hits brain
in Fenway’s bleachers,
that bellicose breed of
bragging, banging,
bare-chested beer bellies
begin bellowing and bleating
like beached, blubbery belugas
boiling to breed.
Alas, there are no endangered species
in Section 41.
September 22, 1991
Thanks to Hannah for the word. Shenanigans and hogwash came before.
