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View Full Version : Does Honcho = Hancho???



Dojorat
10th January 2001, 01:55
Greetins,

I have always assumed that the term honcho (sp?), as in "Head Honcho" (a leader or other superior person in an organization or group), came from the Spanish.

However, I had been rereading the chapter on Han in "Sword and Brush" (thank you, Dave Lowry) and Meik Skoss' article on Hanshi/Shihan at Koryubooks.com and talking about the term DojoCho when the synaptic spark occurred to put Han together with Cho and derive a word for a senior person in a group.

Is is spelled Hancho and is it derived from the Chinese/Japanese or am I barking up the wrong tree here?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,

Joseph Svinth
10th January 2001, 10:53
According to my handy-dandy Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, honcho comes from the Japanese hanchó, "squad leader," and breaks down into "han" (squad) and chó (chief). It officially entered the language in 1947 (I'd guess September 1945 is more like it), and means "boss, big shot; also hot shot."