Holy Mackerel

Posted by ESC on January 07, 2004

In Reply to: Holy Mackerel--Where does it come from??? posted by barb on January 07, 2004

: I can't find anything regarding the origin of holy mackerel. Love some help on this one...

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).