holy smokes
English edit
Pronunciation edit
- Rhymes: -əʊks
Interjection edit
- Alternative form of holy smoke
- 1971, “Suicide Song”, in Loudon Wainwright III (lyrics), Album II, performed by Loudon Wainwright III:
- Stomp on the moon and spit in the ocean / Razzamatazz and I love you / Holy smokes and Land o' Goshen / You can do anything that you want to do.
Usage notes edit
- holy smoke is a little more common than holy smokes in written publications,[1] but holy smokes has acquired a majority of usage in the US.[2]
References edit
- ^ holy smokes, holy smoke at Google Ngram Viewer
- ^ “Google Trends”, in Google Trends (in American English), 2023 September 11 (last accessed)
Further reading edit
- “holy smokes”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.