134: honcho Apr 21, 2015

English is nothing if not collection of words and phrases taken from other languages. This happens especially with informal terms, such as the phrase "honcho", commonly used as "head honcho". This term came to English in the 1940's, from Japanese word 'hanchō' which means ‘group leader’. This term was brought back to the United States by servicemen stationed in Japan during the occupation after WWII.