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Bartisms v Batmannerisms

Posted by Lewis on July 03, 2003

In Reply to: Holy Cow posted by ESC on July 01, 2003

: : Does anyone know where the expression "holy cow" came from?

: From the archives under "holy":

: : "Holy smoke!, 1889; Holy cats!, Holy mackerel!, both 1803; Holy Moses!, 1906, Holy cow!, 1942." From I Hear America Talking: An Illustrated History of American Words and Phrases by Stuart Berg Flexner (Von Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York, 1976).

: : : : From the Dictionary of American Slang :
: : : : "Holy cow!" . . . Equiv. to "Holy cats!" both being euphemisms for "Holy Christ!" . . . Although this term is considered to be very popular among teenagers, no self-respecting, red-blooded teenager would dare use such a weak oath. It is, however, the common oath and popular exclam. put into the mouth of teenagers by all script writers, and is universally heard on radio, television, and in movies. It was first popularized by the "Corliss Archer" series of short stories, television programs, and movies, which attempted to show the humorous, homey side of teenage life.

: : : : Paul Beale , however, in revising Eric Partridge's Dictionary of Catch Phrases: American and British, from the Sixteenth Century to the Present Day cites a different origin:
: : : : The orig. 'Captain Marvel' and 'Batman' oaths, 'holy (something harmless),' were in turn spoofed in later C20 by whatever seemed relevant to the situation: Nigel Rees, in "Very Interesting . . . But Stupid: Catchphrases from the World of Entertainment," 1980, instances holy flypaper!, holy cow!, holy felony!, holy geography!, holy schizophrenia! holy haberdashery!, etc., and adds, 'The prefix 'holy' to any exclamation was particularly the province of Batman and [his boy assistant] Robin, characters created by Bob Kane and featured in best-selling comic books for over thirty years before they were portrayed by Adam West and Burt Ward in the TV film series.'

Unless I've overlooked it, the above misses the obvious - that in India, the cow is sacred and sacred = holy - so therefore "Holy cow!" is no different from "Sacred cow!" meaning beyond criticism, no real difference to "cosmic!" or other such overblown exclamations. I suppose "Cowabunga" needs to enter the discussion somewhere.

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