Holy moly is an exclamation of surprise, shock or admiration. It is American, a minced oath built on holy Moses, and Green’s Dictionary of Slang has it in print from 1929, more than a decade before the Captain Marvel comics made it famous. It is also written holy moley.
What is the origin of the phrase ‘Holy moly’?
The phrase ‘Holy Moly’ or ‘Holy Moley’ is thought to be an alternative way of saying ‘Holy Moses’ or ‘Holy Mary’. These phrases were once said in what is commonly referred to as taking the names of religious figures in vain. These were the old curse words of days gone by. The phrase ‘Holy moly’ allowed for a more acceptable way of making an exclamation of surprise.
There is also a reference to a magical herb called ‘Moly’ in Greek mythology, found in Homer’s “Odyssey”. However, there is no reliable evidence directly linking this mythological reference to the phrase “Holy moly”.
Similar phrases documented in the 1800s and 1900s include ‘Holy smoke’ and ‘Holy cow’. But the phrase ‘Holy moly’ is easier on the tongue due to its rhyming.
The phrase ‘Holy moly’ gained widespread popularity in America through the comic books featuring Captain Marvel (now known as Shazam), dating back to 1939, where the expression was frequently used by Billy Batson, the alter ego of Captain Marvel as a means to show surprise.
Etymonline sets holy moly among a run of American expletives that use holy as an intensifier, a habit it traces to the mid-19th century. The same entry dates holy smoke to 1871, holy mackerel to 1865 and holy cow to 1910, and calls the whole group likely euphemisms for holy Christ! or holy Moses!. Holy Toledo belongs to the same family.
Green’s Dictionary of Slang files holy moly! and holy moley! directly under holy Moses!, marks the phrase as originally US juvenile slang, and glosses it as a general exclamation of amazement or shock. Green’s dates holy Moses! itself to the 1840s. Its earliest example there is from D. Corcoran’s Pickings from the New Orleans Picayune, 1845, where the line runs: ‘O, Holy Moses!’ exclaimed O’Toole.
The earliest example of holy moly itself in Green’s Dictionary of Slang is from the Gettysburg Compiler of Pennsylvania, 27 March 1929, and it arrives as typewriter wordplay rather than as an oath: ‘Rolly polly, bright and jolly!’ Maybe ‘Remmy,’ my faithful typewriter, should have spelt it, ‘Roly poly, holy moly!’. That is about ten years before Captain Marvel reached print, so the comics carried the phrase to a mass audience rather than invented it.
What are some notable uses of the phrase ‘Holy moly’?
In addition to its appearance in comic books, the phrase ‘Holy moly’ has also appeared in classic literature, including “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger (1951), and “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White (1952).
The minced oath also occurs in modern film, including “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” released in 1984 and in “The Goonies” released in 1985.
Alternative phrases include ‘Oh my God’ and ‘OMG’.
Green’s Dictionary of Slang carries the phrase forward through American fiction, quoting Stephen King’s The Stand of 1978: ‘Holy moly! If he’d a been doing sixty we’d all be dead.’
The wider holy …! formula got a second life on television. Green’s Dictionary of Slang credits the 1960s Batman series, in which Robin coined a long run of exclamations on the model holy [noun], Batman!, with popularising the pattern in non-religious use.