800-pound gorilla

Posted by R. Berg on February 07, 2003

In Reply to: Help: 800 pound gorilla posted by S. Ryan on February 07, 2003

: : Anyone know the origin of this term? If one needs to succicently describe the term to a global community, what's an easy way to do that?

: Q. Where does an eight hundred pound gorilla sleep?
: A. Wherever it wishes!

: The 800 pound gorilla is the biggest, toughest and meanest in the jungle and consequently can do whatever it wishes whenever it wishes.

The Q and A that S. Ryan provided was a popular joke that went the rounds some time ago. "Big bully" or anything similar would convey the idea to an audience that may not have heard the original joke.