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This weekend a rather inquisitive 8 year old asked me where the saying "holy smokes" came from. I didn't know. Just did a quick Google search & an AWAD search and still came up empty. I'm willing to bet someone here knows the answer to my little friend's question. Thanks in advance!  Dawn
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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<swag>Papal elections?</swag>
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old hand
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old hand
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This look backwards may provide some enlightenment
I must be missing something there. I didn't see anything about "holy smokes" specifically. Then again, I'm working on 2 hours of sleep.
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old hand
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I didn't claim a specific reference to smokes, but such euphemistic expletives tend to use rapidly varying "substrates", the concrete meaning being less important than the "emotional impact". Smoke has certainly scored high in this respect in recent times. Today I heard that Ireland has banned smoking from nearly all of public space. Mental asylums are one of the rare exceptions(!)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Holy smoke!, 1889; Holy cats!, Holy mackerel!, both 1803; Holy Moses!, 1906, Holy cow!, 1942." From “I Hear America Talking” by Stuart Berg Flexner (Von Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York, 1976).
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Carpal Tunnel
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One suspects a connection between this exclamation and the idea of using smoke as a form of prayer. In both Old Testament times and in the modern church, incense is used and its rising smoke is compared to prayers rising from Earth to the Almighty.
"Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice." (Psalm 141:2, Authorized Version)
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Carpal Tunnel
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> smoke as a form of prayer
I think it goes back further than the Christian era, to Greek civilisation at least ~ and doubtless many other sacrificial offering type cultures surely?
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old hand
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Buddhism too ~ lots of incense offerings involved in my temple experiences!
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Quinion has this http://www.quinion.com/words/qa/qa-hol1.htm on holy smoke, I've never heard this phrase so I'm flying blind here, sorry. He doesn't add much to the posts previous tbh.
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Pooh-Bah
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Frankincense was a big part of the mix in the Jerusalem temples. The ingredients are listed in one of the mishnas, as I remember, though, the proportions were a gigantic secret. (But memory is porous). I *do* remember studying a passage in the Talmud that discussed whether or not a person exposed to the smoke of the incense in the temple precincts was guilty of an infraction. The conclusion was that he would not be, so long as he derived no pleasure from it. As one who doesn't like incense to begin with, I would have been safe.
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"The handful, the frankincense, the incense, the meal offerings of the priests, and the meal offerings of the annointed priest, and the meal offering which accompanies drink offerings—
"the laws of sacrilege apply to them once they have been sanctified.
"[When] they have been sanctified in a utensil, they are rendered fit to be made invalid by a tebul-yom and by one whose rites of atonement have not yet been completed and by being left overnight.
"And they are liable on their account because of violation of the laws of remnant and because of violation of the laws of uncleanliness.
"But the prohibition of refuse does not apply to them.
"&c."
[Mishnah, Holy Things, Meilah, 2:9 IX. A. - E.; translated by Jacob Neusner, 1988.]
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I didn't mean to ignore your great answers to my question. I've enjoyed looking at your clever responses today (better late than never) and the interesting links provided. AWAD is a wonderful resource of human genius. I'm always impressed by your combined knowledge. Well done! And thank you!
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