bigger than Ben Hur

English

Etymology

A comparison to the extravagance of the 1899 play Ben-Hur. Though the phrase is often erroneously claimed to have been coined in reference to the 1959 film, use of the phrase long predates the film.

Pronunciation

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Phrase

bigger than Ben-Hur

1. (simile, informal, comical) huge, extravagant.
   • 1916, Columbia Theatre advertisement in The Argonaut, Volume 79, No. 2071, page 379:

     150 People, Arabs, Camels, Horses, Donkeys and Goats
     The Eighth Wonder of the World
     BIGGER THAN “BEN-HUR”