Many etymologists will say that the word was just a noisy nonsense exclamation that imitated the thing it referred to. You might think that this is just another case of folk wisdom guessing on the basis of slight resemblance, but there is evidence to suggest it may be correct. There's a similar word in the Arezzo dialect of Italian, barruccaba , that is without doubt borrowed from the Hebrew, and phrases in several other languages suggest that other Hebrew expressions were similarly borrowed. One such, common in US English, is tohubohu , a related word meaning total confusion or a state of chaos. However, it's dangerous to say that because some words come from Hebrew, others must do so too.
Some linguists think a Hebrew derivation for brouhaha is just plain wrong.
A World Wide Words subscriber, John Peter Maher, wrote to say that he has done some work on the origins of brou in French. He suggests a more likely origin may be bull baiting and that the word may be linked to the Italian or Spanish bravo . He points to the French rabrouer , to taunt, as a linked term. All rights reserved.