Cameron Duncan

Are You a Muckety-Muck?

muckety-muck: \MUH-kuh-tee-muck\: (noun): an important and often arrogant person.

The word muckety-muck, taken from Merriam-Webster Dictionary, evolved from Chinook Indians. They first used a form of muckety-muck meaning self-important person, "high-muck-a-muck." Who did the Chinook Indians have in mind when they used this word? Probably someone who was important and knew it.. At times, I think that everybody can be a muckety-muck. There are reasons why we all become muckety-mucks. When we win competitions we feel high and mighty, thus making us muckety-mucks. If we are appointed or chosen for some position that gives us power over others we may be called a muckety-muck. Some people just feel superior to the rest of the human race and may if given the chance lord it over others.

Someone in an Indian village might become a muckety-muck because they had the largest crop harvest. Generally, people become muckety-mucks because they feel that they are, or have done something, better than their peers. When you see somebody with a huge ego, you can probably label them a muckety-muck, especially if they are in a position of power.

Although being a muckety-muck is synonymous with being arrogant, it is only a temporary thing, and not necessarily bad. Being a muckety-muck is just a state of mind, And we have all been in that state of mind at some point in life.