holy mackerel

holy mackerel

An exclamation of surprise, shock, or astonishment. Holy mackerel, the bill for that dinner is nearly $200! We won the lottery? Holy mackerel, that's amazing news!
See also: holy, mackerel
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

Holy mackerel!

Inf. Wow! Holy mackerel! What a beautiful day! Holy mackerel! What's this? A new car?
See also: holy
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

Holy mackerel!

(ˈholi ˈmækrəl)
exclam. Wow! Holy mackerel! What a day!
See also: holy
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • Holy mackerel!
  • holy crap on a cracker
  • holy crickets
  • moley
  • holy Hannah
  • holy moley
  • Holy moley!
  • Moses
  • holy cow
References in periodicals archive
JAN TRYSKA is a national black bream expert after years of catches around Poole, Dorset, with casts from his own boat, Holy Mackerel.
Before you could say "Holy mackerel" I had a trout pout Leslie Ash would be proud of.
* Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse and Holy Mackerel! Seafood are at 70 Yorktown Center, Lombard, (630) 953-3400.
I generally reserve that kind of exuberance for the sports pages, but this story was worth not only an, "Oh my!" but also a "Holy mackerel!"
HOLY mackerel! Batman's been squabbling with his family.
The Bournemouth sea bream expert missed our prizes with an 11lb-plus bass at his last attempt in early summer when he sailed from Poole with a fishing mate in his own boat, Holy Mackerel.
And the closest he'll ever come to taking the Lord's name in vain is when he says "Holy mackerel!"
He caught it from his own boat, Holy Mackerel, while out with a friend at a reef off Poole, near their Dorset homes.
Holy mackerel, I hear you say, can this really be true?
I'm talking about the holy mackerel - the giant bluefin, the goliath of our ocean game fish.
Tryska, a Bournemouth painter and decorator, is a caring put-'em-back-alive sea angler and once needed only three hours to catch and release 40 hard-fighting bream on a local trip in his own boat, Holy Mackerel.
His fish was the best of 40 caught and returned on a local outing in his own boat, Holy Mackerel.
Jan Tryska, a Bournemouth painter and decorator, needed only three hours to catch and return 40 hard-fighting black bream on a local trip in his private boat, Holy Mackerel. A 4lb 9oz beauty scored a personal best.
Jan, in his own boat, Holy Mackerel, bagged an 18lb 10oz whopper only 2lb 10oz off the British best.
They sailed out two miles in Holy Mackerel, skippered by Jan Tryska, a family friend who gave Marcus a renovated old rod.