holy cow
An exclamation of surprise, shock, or astonishment. Holy cow, the bill for that dinner was nearly $200! We won the lottery? Holy cow, that's amazing news! Are you all right? Holy cow, we could have been killed in that accident!
holy mackerel
An exclamation of surprise, shock, or astonishment. Holy mackerel, the bill for that dinner was nearly $200! We won the lottery? Holy mackerel, that's amazing news! Are you all right? Holy mackerel, we could have been killed in that accident!
holy moley
An exclamation of surprise, shock, or astonishment. Holy moley, the bill for that dinner was nearly $200! We won the lottery? Holy moley, that's amazing news! Are you all right? Holy moley, we could have been killed in that accident!
holy Moses
An exclamation of surprise, shock, or astonishment. Holy Moses, the bill for that dinner was nearly $200! We won the lottery? Holy Moses, that's amazing news! Are you all right? Holy Moses, we could have been killed in that accident!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
holy cow
Also, holy mackerel or Moses or moly or smoke . An exclamation of surprise, astonishment, delight, or dismay, as in Holy cow, I forgot the wine, or Holy mackerel, you won! or Holy Moses, here comes the teacher! or Holy smoke, I didn't know you were here too. The oldest of these slangy expletives uses mackerel, dating from about 1800; the one with Moses dates from about 1850 and cow from about 1920. None has any literal significance, and moly is a neologism devised to rhyme with "holy" and possibly a euphemism for "Moses."
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.