holy cow

interjection Slang.

(used to express bewilderment, surprise, or astonishment.)

Origin of holy cow

First recorded in 1920–25

Words nearby holy cow

holy bread, holy cats, holy city, holy clover, holy communion, holy cow, holy cross, holy day, holy day of obligation, holy family, holy father

Idioms and Phrases with holy cow

holy cow

Also, holy mackerel or Moses or moly or smoke. An exclamation of surprise, astonishment, delight, or dismay, as in Holy cow, I forgot the wine, or Holy mackerel, you won! or Holy Moses, here comes the teacher! or Holy smoke, I didn't know you were here too. The oldest of these slangy expletives uses mackerel, dating from about 1800; the one with Moses dates from about 1850 and cow from about 1920. None has any literal significance, and moly is a neologism devised to rhyme with “holy” and possibly a euphemism for “Moses.”