See holy mackerel on Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "Recorded from 1803 with uncertain origin, but possibly a euphemism for Holy Mary, with Mackerel being a nickname for Catholics because they ate the fish on Fridays. Another suggested explanation is the practice of selling mackerel on Sundays in the seventeenth century (because its quality deteriorates rapidly), so it was known as holy fish.",
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"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "intj",
"senses": [
{
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"examples": [
{
"ref": "1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 48:",
"text": "‘Holy mackerel!’ he whispered. ‘Englehorn! Driscoll! Get a look at this thing.’",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1951, Marguerite Wallace Kennedy, chapter 3, in My Home on the Range:",
"text": "Holy Mackerel! Here Comes the Bride!\"",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1956, Ian Fleming, Diamonds are Forever, published 1965, page 163:",
"text": "\"Holy mackerel! Just any old dumb hag who can cook and lie on her back?\"",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"An expression of surprise."
],
"id": "en-holy_mackerel-en-intj-x~m0pbVV",
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[
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],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, humorous or euphemistic) An expression of surprise."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "wow"
}
],
"tags": [
"euphemistic",
"humorous",
"idiomatic"
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "oc",
"lang": "Occitan",
"sense": "expression of surprise",
"word": "macarèl"
}
]
}
],
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"word": "holy mackerel"
}
{
"etymology_text": "Recorded from 1803 with uncertain origin, but possibly a euphemism for Holy Mary, with Mackerel being a nickname for Catholics because they ate the fish on Fridays. Another suggested explanation is the practice of selling mackerel on Sundays in the seventeenth century (because its quality deteriorates rapidly), so it was known as holy fish.",
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"ref": "1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 48:",
"text": "‘Holy mackerel!’ he whispered. ‘Englehorn! Driscoll! Get a look at this thing.’",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1951, Marguerite Wallace Kennedy, chapter 3, in My Home on the Range:",
"text": "Holy Mackerel! Here Comes the Bride!\"",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1956, Ian Fleming, Diamonds are Forever, published 1965, page 163:",
"text": "\"Holy mackerel! Just any old dumb hag who can cook and lie on her back?\"",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"An expression of surprise."
],
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"(idiomatic, humorous or euphemistic) An expression of surprise."
],
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}
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"synonyms": [
{
"word": "wow"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "oc",
"lang": "Occitan",
"sense": "expression of surprise",
"word": "macarèl"
}
],
"word": "holy mackerel"
}
Download raw JSONL data for holy mackerel meaning in All languages combined (2.1kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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