Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Holy mother of monkey!

"Holy" is a common word that many use to describe beautiful places like "The Church of the Holy Pharisees," important rituals like "The Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist," and fictional characters like "The Holy Son of God Most High."

Then there’s people like me who save the word for the really important stuff, like saying "Holy freakin' Christ in a Christmas tree, Batman!" Whether you’re speaking to The Dark Avenger or just hit your thumb with a hammer, "holy" is a flexible and amusing word.

Though the use of "holy" in exclamations is older than the 1960s Batman show, the Boy Wonder's use of that word boosted its stock considerably. Here's a sampling of Robin's wit:

Holy remote control robot!
Holy homicide!
Holy armadillos!
Holy human surfboards!
Holy hydraulics!
Holy interplanetary yardstick!
Holy mashed potatoes!
Holy purple cannibals!
Holy ravioli!
Holy rising hemlines!
Holy uncanny photographic mental processes!
Holy hole in a doughnut!
Holy contributing to the delinquency of minors!
Holy dental hygiene!
Holy fate worse than death!

This is just the beginning--a little web-searching reveals more holiness than a convent on Christmas. Rather than trot out the hundreds of exclamations I've found, I'll just list the motherly ones:

Holy. Mother. Fucking. Shit.
Holy sweet mother of crap!
Holy mother of squick!
Holy mother of pearl!
Holy mother of pancakes!
Holy mother of mercy!
Holy mother of Groucho!
Holy mother of God and all things holy!
Holy mother of dog!
Holy mother of crap!
Holy mother of Cheese Whiz!
Holy mother of Bob!
Holy mother of all that’s good and right!
Holy mother of all creation!
Holy mother Molson!
Holy mother god!
Holy mother from hell!
Holy mother bunnies!
Holy living mother of fuck!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"Holy Mother of the sufferin' Jaysus" from the book Yeats is Dead. A fine Irish expression.