Holy cow

Posted by ESC on August 07, 2001

In Reply to: Holy cow posted by Boris on August 07, 2001

: was this only a modern phrase..

I don't know. Here's what I found: "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).

• Holy cow Michael 09/22/01