The Big Cahuna

Posted by Bob on December 04, 1999

In Reply to: The Big Cahuna posted by Joe Pessell on December 03, 1999

: :
: : : Can anyone tell me the derivation of this term? Or should it be 'kahuna'?

: : Kahuna is the term for a Polynesian "medicine man" or shaman. A "Big Kahuna" is one with a lot of power.

: I've used the term "he's got big brass kahunas" to describe someone who is particularly bold or daring. But this has nothing to do with shamen, unless they had unusually large testicles.

It's probably from someone confusing Kahuna with cojones, the Spanish for testicles.