big daddy
1. An influential man, a big shot (see under
big cheese), as in
You'll have to get permission from big daddy. [
Slang; mid-1900s]
2. A male sweetheart or friend, often a man considerably older than his female companion; a
sugar daddy. [
Slang; mid-1900s]
3. Grandfather. This usage originated in the South among African-Americans.
4. The largest or most important person or thing of its kind. For example, The United States has long been the big daddy of the Western Hemisphere, or The blue whale was the big daddy of the ocean. [Slang; 1960s]
granddaddy of them all
The first, oldest, or most respected of its kind, as in That computer is the grandaddy of them all. [Colloquial; c. 1900]
sugar daddy
A wealthy, usually older man who gives expensive gifts to someone much younger in return for companionship or sexual favors. For example, The aspiring young actress and the sugar daddy are a classic combination in Hollywood. The sugar in this term alludes to the sweetening role of the gifts, and daddy to the age difference between the pair. [Early 1900s]