holy smoke

[tigerII]

what is holy smoke

[woofgang]

I think this originates from what led the israelites out of egypt, a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of smoke by day

[Quizmonster]

I love the idea behind Woofgang's response, but I think the answer is a bit more prosaic, being along the same sort of lines as 'holy moses', 'holy mackerel' etc. There may be religious and historical meaning to it, however, as you'll find if you click http://www.worldwidewords.org /qa/qa-hol1.htm

[Quizmonster]

For heaven's sake! What's happened to the clickable links now? I'll try again, Tiger. Click http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ho l1.htm

[andy hughes]

QM's link appears not to be working, so I'll offer an educated guess - it may be connected with the election of a new Pope. Once the Cardinals have completed their deliberations and elected a new Pontiff, a fire is lit that allows white smoke to rise in the sky above The Vatican, which shows the waiting people that they have a new Pope.

[football]

Batman & Robin use Holy Smoke to help with their crime detection.

[Sproutstick]

I think Andy Hughes is correct on this one

[Quizmonster]

My non-working link above is from the noted OED lexicographer and etymologist, Michael Quinion, so more than likely to be right. He gives a reference to the words of Sir John Beaumont: "The holy smoke of fervent prayers" dated 1627. The idea here is that the smoke of a burnt sacrifice or of incense 'carries' prayers heavenwards. However, Quinion claims that the phrase seems to have been 'reinvented' in the USA in the late 19th century at about the same time as 'holy terror', 'Holy Joe' etc, since it clearly has more in common with them than the old religious concept. In the same way, 'holy' cow' was created in the 1940s.

[sanfran]

a film with kate winslet and harvey keitel in it!