"Holy cow!" (and other similar terms), an exclamation of surprise used mostly in the United States, Canada, Australia, and England, is a

minced oath A minced oath is a euphemistic expression formed by deliberately misspelling, mispronouncing, or replacing a part of a profane, blasphemous, or taboo word or phrase to reduce the original term's objectionable characteristics. An example is "gosh" ...

or euphemism. The expression dates to at latest 1905. Its earliest known appearance was in a

tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scot ...

letter to the editor: "A lover of the cow writes to this column to protest against a certain variety of Hindu oath having to do with the vain use of the name of the milk producer. There is the profane exclamations, 'holy cow!' and, 'By the stomach of the eternal cow! The phrase appears to have been adopted as a means to avoid using obscene or indecent language and may have been based on a general awareness of the holiness of cows in some religious traditions.

Definition

From the ''Dictionary of American Slang'' (1960):

Usage and variations

Expressions such as "Holy buckets!", "Holy underwear!", etc. also employ a play-on-words, "holy" implying "riddled with holes"

oley Oley may refer to: ;People * Barnabas Oley (1602–1686), English churchman and academic * Johann Christoph Oley (1738–1789), German organist and composer ;Places * Oley Valley, Pennsylvania * Oley Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania * Oley, ...

Paul Beale, however, revised

Eric Partridge Eric Honeywood Partridge (6 February 1894 – 1 June 1979) was a New Zealand– British lexicographer of the English language, particularly of its slang. His writing career was interrupted only by his service in the Army Education Corps and ...

's ''A Dictionary of Catch Phrases'' and cites a different origin: The phrase "Holy cow!" was used by baseball players at least as early as 1913 and probably much earlier. It became associated with several American baseball broadcasters. The phrase may have originated with reporter and broadcaster

Halsey Hall Halsey Lewis Hall (May 23, 1898 – December 30, 1977) was a sports reporter and announcer in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area from 1919 until the 1970s. Early life Halsey Lewis Hall was born in New York City's Greenwich Village on May 23, 1898 ...

who worked in Minneapolis, Minnesota from 1919 until his death in 1977. According to

Paul Dickson Paul Dickson may refer to: *Paul Dickson (writer) (born 1939), American writer *Paul Dickson (American football) Paul Serafin Dickson (February 26, 1937 – June 7, 2011) was an American football defensive tackle in the National Football League ...

, New Orleans radio announcer Jack Holiday also used the phrase on broadcasts of the minor-league

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division and play their home ...

in the 1930s.

Harry Caray Harry Christopher Caray (; March 1, 1914 – February 18, 1998) was an American radio and television sportscaster. During his career he called the play-by-play for five Major League Baseball teams, beginning with 25 years of calling the games ...

was the broadcaster for the St. Louis Cardinals (1945–1969),

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The t ...

(1970),

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

(1971–1981), and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

(1982–1997), and he began using it early in his career in order to prevent himself from lapsing into vulgarity.

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

shortstop and announcer

Phil Rizzuto Philip Francis Rizzuto (September 25, 1917 – August 13, 2007), nicknamed "The Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career with the New York Yankees (1941–1956), and was elected to ...

was also well known for the phrase; when the Yankees honored him following his retirement, the ceremony included a real cow with a halo prop on its head. 1950s

Milwaukee Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

broadcaster Earl Gillespie was also known for this expression. The comic book series '' Common Grounds'' was based on the mini-comic ''Holey Crullers'', named after its setting in a coffee and doughnut shop called Holey Crullers.

References

{{New York Yankees English-language idioms Euphemisms Catchphrases Metaphors referring to cattle Hinduism and cattle