A: Mary’s new boyfriend is kind of mysterious. What’s his deal?

B: I’ve heard that he is a bigwig in local politics.

Note: This word refers to an important person. The fashion for wigs began with the Bourbon kings of France. Louis XIII (1601-1643) went prematurely bald and took to wearing a wig. By the middle of the century, and especially during the reign of Louis XIV, the Sun King, wigs were virtually obligatory for all European nobility and “persons of quality.” Wigs were expensive to purchase and to keep in condition and were the preserve of the powerful and wealthy. Ostentation was the order of the day in Bourbon France and over time the wigs became bigger, often to the point of absurdity. It isn’t difficult to imagine how the term “bigwig” emerged to refer to the rich and powerful.