Meaning
An exclamation of surprise, astonishment or dismay - a minced oath, a deliberately inoffensive substitution for stronger profane oaths such as 'Holy Christ!'. Chiefly North American but understood across the English-speaking world, and familiar from baseball broadcasting and endless jokey spin-offs. Informal, mildly dated but affectionate; safe around children. Some people whose religions revere the cow find it offhand, since it trivially invokes a sacred animal. The jokey spin-offs - holy cats, holy mackerel, Batman's holy-something-or-other - are endless. Regional use: Originally and chiefly North American; now widespread.
Origin
The verifiable record is older than most popular accounts suggest: the OED's entry for holy carries holy cow! dated 1855 in its 'used trivially' branch - verified directly on the OED's search record. The earliest detailed print evidence commonly cited is a tongue-in-cheek letter to the Minneapolis Journal of 24 November 1905 complaining of 'the profane exclamations, holy cow! and, By the stomach of the eternal cow!' - already framed as a 'Hindoo oath'. Baseball players used it by 1913, and broadcasters made it a signature, from Halsey Hall in Minneapolis to Harry Caray, who said he used it to avoid lapsing into vulgarity, and Phil Rizzuto. Debunked: the claim sometimes seen that Mark Twain used or coined it appears only in unsourced retellings; the 1905 letter was signed 'A. J. R.', not Twain, and no reliable source connects him to the phrase.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- holy cats
- holy cow expression
- holy gee
Usage Examples
- Holy cow, did you see the size of that truck?
- Holy cow, they have doubled the price since last year!
- You met her at the summit? Holy cow, small world.