I'd venture an educated guess that it comes from the big wigs that people in positions of power in Britain used to wear. The judges there still have to wear them, I think.
to remind the reader of the Bigwigs' statusto create a rhythm through repetitionto emphasize the Bigwigs' empty valuesto hide the Bigwigs' generous nature(One of these)
stop
The Bible
from joey in friends
latin
1820-30
from girls ...to hissy...
in concord and lexington.
facebook entry
Andy Maio invent this phrase in the early 70s
The Devil Made Me Do It
the simpsons