When I was in high school (c. 1979) a friend would say, ‘Oh, Emma!’ I thought it was something he made up, until I heard the expression used in the Hollywood version of Memphis Belle (‘Oh, Emma! You can have my bullets, too!’)
What’s the origin of ‘Oh, Emma!’?
An old song, perhaps?
I can’t find much. One of my slang dictionaries under “Emma” has a cross-reference to “Whoa Emma” but there doesn’t appear to be an entry for the latter. Looking further, I see that “Whoa, Emma” was the title of a song by T.S. Lonsdale and John Read published in 1877. I can’t find the lyrics online. It was also the title of a movie short produced in 1926.
1877 seems a bit early for ‘Oh, Emma!’ to still be in use during WWII. I assume that my classmate picked the term up from his father. If that’s true, then I’d suspect his father heard the term during the 1930s or 1940s. (And there’s that Memphis Belle reference that may indicate its usage during the war.)
The phrase coming from a movie short? It’s possible, I suppose. But would a phrase from a (presumably) silent short film make it into general usage?