Meaning
The person in charge: a boss, manager, or ringleader, most often met in the phrase 'head honcho' for the top boss. It is informal, slightly jokey American English, usually a shade irreverent toward authority rather than respectful, and can also shade into 'hotshot'. Informal; 'head honcho' is the most common phrase and is technically redundant, since the source word already contains 'head'. Regional use: General English (borrowed from Japanese via U.S. military slang).
Origin
From Japanese hancho, a compound of han 'squad, corps' and cho 'head, chief', naming the squad leader or officer in charge of a work group. The word was picked up by Americans during the huge post-1945 occupation presence in Japan: Merriam-Webster notes that Japanese speakers also applied hancho to British and Australian officers put in charge of prison-camp work parties during World War II, and that the exact route into American military argot by the mid-1950s is uncertain. Merriam-Webster dates the first known use to 1945 and the Online Etymology Dictionary to 1947, with U.S. servicemen in Japan and Korea spreading it through about 1953 before it entered general colloquial American English in the 1960s.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- hancho
- hancho (hanchō)
- head honcho
Usage Examples
- If the invoice looks wrong, check with the billing honcho before you pay it.
- The marketing honcho called a quick meeting to approve the new advertising campaign.
- Every block party has one honcho who books the band, rents the tables, and chases down the permits.