A brouhaha, from French brouhaha, is a state of social agitation when a minor incident gets out of control, sometimes referred to as an uproar or hubbub.
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Usage
Typically, a brouhaha is marked by controversy and fuss that can seem, afterwards, to have been pointless or irrational.
Example incidents
In one such instance, in New York City, a dispute between a clinic entitled Upper Breast Side (that gives advice to young mothers about breastfeeding and bras) and a condo association erupted into a legal battle and was described in The Boston Globe as a brouhaha. The Washington Post described an incident as a brouhaha in which a passenger, on board a jetliner, reclined the seat to the point where it bothered a second passenger, resulting in a fistfight, intervention by flight attendants, and the plane returning to the airport escorted by fighter jets. In another instance, politics surrounding the choice of bus lanes in Los Angeles erupted in ineffective squabbling that ultimately did not help efforts to improve public transit in the metropolis.