Holy moly
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Holy moly (also spelled holy moley, or holey moley[citation needed]) is an exclamation of surprise that dates from at least 1892.[1] It is a reduplication of 'holy', perhaps as a minced oath, a cleaned-up version of a taboo phrase such as "Holy Moses",[2] or "Holy Mary". There is no evidence connecting the phrase to Moly, a sacred herb of Greek mythology.[3]
It was popularized in the U.S. as an expression often used by Billy Batson, the alter ego of Captain Marvel, a superhero created for Fawcett Publications.[citation needed]
References
[edit | edit source]
Look up holy moley in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
