# Holy Moly? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 2, 2002, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-moly/101361 "2002-04-02T08:45:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-moly/101361/1 "2002-04-02T08:45:13Z")
What’s the origin of this phrase? ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Alex\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_B)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-moly/101361/2 "2002-04-02T08:49:17Z")
I’ve done no research at all on this, but my ill-formed opinion is that it’s a corruption of ‘Holy Moses’, with the mild blasphemy taken out. Just a guess really. Alex ---
**Author:** ![kuroashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9a140/32.png) [@kuroashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kuroashi)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-moly/101361/3 "2002-04-02T08:53:13Z")
It’s a reference to the number of angels who can dance on the head of a pin. That was the early definition of one Mol. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-moly/101361/4 "2002-04-02T12:27:05Z")
Moly was the magic herb that Athena gave Odysseus to protect him from the magic of Circe. It had white flowers and a black root. It was “holy” because it came from a goddess. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-moly/101361/5 "2002-04-02T12:50:36Z")
Ahh, kids today. I believe that the expression was created for the comic book **Captain Marvel** by C.C. Beck and company. It was newsboy Billy Batston’s mild oath. CM also gave us “ **Shazam!** ” as an expression. It was the magic word that Billy used to turn into Captain Marvel. Each letter stood for a different character from Greek mythology from whem Billy got his powers (I don’t recall the list, and I’m too lazy to Google it). As someone once pointed out in Steranko’s History of Comics (and as noted above), moley a (possibly hallucinogenic) herb, so you gotta wonder about the expression. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-moly/101361/6 "2002-04-02T14:36:09Z")
…but the ‘Six Great Elders’: Solomon - wisdom, Hercules - strength, Atlas - stamina, Zeus - power, Achilles - Courage, and Mercury - speed. From [This site.](http://shazam.imginc.com/whoswho/captainmarvel.asp) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-moly/101361/7 "2002-04-03T06:10:48Z")
> **[Penguin Random House](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com?date=19980729)** > > Committed to publishing great books, connecting readers and authors globally, and spreading the love of reading. I guess you’re all correct.