WEBVTT - Why Do People Say 'Holy Cow'?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren vogeban here. It seems quaint these days

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<v Speaker 1>to express astonishment with a wholesome phrase like holy cow.

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<v Speaker 1>It's so common that we've probably all said it at

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<v Speaker 1>some point, maybe as kids, and if you're a sports

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<v Speaker 1>fan of a certain age, you may even associate it

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<v Speaker 1>with baseball announcers Phil Rizutto or Harry Carry. Carrie delivered

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<v Speaker 1>a particularly memorable holy Cow in his broadcasts, and so

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<v Speaker 1>much so that comedian Will Ferrell often parodied Carry on

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<v Speaker 1>Saturday Night Live. Some people even thought that Rasutto or

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<v Speaker 1>Carrie might have originated the phrase. They were both in

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<v Speaker 1>the booth in the early days of Holy Cow, but

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<v Speaker 1>not quite early enough. Risuto began announcing after his playing

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<v Speaker 1>days were over. His first season as an announcer for

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<v Speaker 1>the New York Yankees was in. Carrie's announcing career began

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<v Speaker 1>in the minor leagues in nineteen forty three, and he

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<v Speaker 1>moved up to the majors in but holy Cow dates

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<v Speaker 1>from before that. It's what's known as a minced oath,

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<v Speaker 1>which is when you substitute a kind of maybe similar

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<v Speaker 1>ish sounding word for a taboo word, and that's why

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<v Speaker 1>we have freaking dang it and heck. In this case,

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<v Speaker 1>cow is probably a stand in for Christ, so the

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<v Speaker 1>speaker wouldn't take the Lord's name in vain. Minced Oaths

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<v Speaker 1>have been around in the English language for hundreds of years.

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<v Speaker 1>The variations on the holy theme have been in use

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<v Speaker 1>since the middle of the eighteen hundreds. According to the

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<v Speaker 1>Oxford English Dictionary, it's definition of holy includes its use

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<v Speaker 1>as an expletive, such as holy cow or holy mackerel.

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<v Speaker 1>The first instance listed for this variety of minced oath

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<v Speaker 1>in print comes in eighteen fifty five, with holy Moses.

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<v Speaker 1>But what about holy cow? Specifically? It does indeed have

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<v Speaker 1>ties to baseball, but back four Carrie and Rosuto were

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<v Speaker 1>even born. A picture for the Sacramento Wolves of nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>thirteen was known as holy Cow Peters, according to a

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<v Speaker 1>report in the Sacramento Union that year. But not even

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<v Speaker 1>Auto holy Cow Peters could claim to have invented the phrase,

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<v Speaker 1>since that same year The Lincoln Star in Nebraska noted

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<v Speaker 1>that player manager Charlie Mullen said holy cow. So as

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<v Speaker 1>early as nineteen thirteen people were saying holy cow, at

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<v Speaker 1>least in Sacramento, California, and Lincoln, Nebraska. The thing is,

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<v Speaker 1>cows are famously held as holy in Hinduism. They're not

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<v Speaker 1>gods and they're not worshiped, but cows are considered sacred.

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<v Speaker 1>These gentle beasts, after all, give more to humans than

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<v Speaker 1>they take in the form of milk and its products

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<v Speaker 1>like butter and cheese and manure, which we can use

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<v Speaker 1>as fertilizer. There were a few English language books on

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<v Speaker 1>India and Hinduism around in the late nineteenth and early

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<v Speaker 1>twentieth centuries, which cones sides with the phrase popping up

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<v Speaker 1>across America. It's unlikely that baseball players were directly referencing

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<v Speaker 1>Hindu religious beliefs in creating their new minced oath, but

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<v Speaker 1>it is likely that holy cows where something Westerners knew

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<v Speaker 1>about around that time. And if you're a baseball player

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<v Speaker 1>who just struck out again and you're forbidden from swearing

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<v Speaker 1>by the league, holy cow might start to look like

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<v Speaker 1>a pretty good substitute for what you'd really like to say.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Kristen Hall Geisler and produced

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<v Speaker 1>by Tyler Clanging. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radios.

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<v Speaker 1>How Stuff Works For more in this and lots of

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<v Speaker 1>other heck and great topics, visit our home planet how

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