grand fromage
English edit
Etymology edit
A literal translation of big cheese into French.
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɡɹɒn ˈfɹɒmaʒ/
- Hyphenation: grand fro‧mage
Noun edit
grand fromage (plural grand fromages or grands fromages)
- (humorous) A big cheese; an important person.
- 2003, Stuart Maconie, “Out on the Floor”, in Cider With Roadies, London: Ebury Publishing, →ISBN, page 69:
- The two DJs who I'd seen at that Latics club event turned out to be real grand fromages of the scene, movers, shakers, opinion formers, revered figures.
- 2004, Bella [Arabella Rosalind Hungerford] Pollen, Hunting Unicorns, London: Pan Books, →ISBN, page 18:
- A CBS executive was sitting in on the meeting. I couldn't remember his name but since the sale of Newsline to CBS a year ago, network grands fromages were becoming a familiar sight around the place.
- 2008 January, Andrea Joy Cohen, “Uncovering a Girl's Ambition: Belleruth Naparstek, L.I.S.W., B.C.D.”, in A Blessing in Disguise: 39 Life Lessons from Today's Greatest Teachers, trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, →ISBN, page 81:
- But when all was said and done, I'd absorbed her belief that a woman was far more attractive, feminine, virtuous, and valuable when supporting and empowering the Grand Fromage, rather than being the Grand Fromage.
- 2015 January, Melissa Kite, The Art of Not Having It All: True Stories of Men, Sex, and Other Disasters, 1st US edition, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 163:
- On our next date I tell Him I think he is a big cheese. He laughs and says, "A grand fromage, eh? No, I'm not a grand fromage; I'm what you would call a medium fromage. Something like a Camembert or Époisses." We laugh.