Holy Guacamole (1985)

Wed Apr 23 19:45:30 UTC 2003

  "Holy guacamole!" a respondent said to me yesterday, after learning how much he owed in parking tickets.
  "Holy guacamole" hasn't been in AMERICAN SPEECH (?), it's not in the RHHDAS, and it's not in the CASSELL DICTIONARY OF SLANG.  A lot of holy stuff is in these--holy cow, holy cats, holy Moses, holy horseshit.  Why can't guacamole be so blessed?
   This site seems to indicate that it started in Gotham City:

http://www.tvacres.com/catch_h.htm
"Holy  Guacamole, Batman!" - One of the silly exclamations spoken by the Boy Wonder (Burt Ward), a Gotham City crimefighter on the fantasy adventure BATMAN/ABC/1966-68. The following is a list of a few more of his silly syllables: Holy Armadillos!, Holy Chutzpah!, Holy Contributing to the Delinquency of Minors!, Holy Dental Hygiene!, Holy Fate Worse Than Death!, Holy Guadalcanal!, Holy Hieroglyphics!, Holy Hole-In-A-Doughnut!, Holy Human Surfboards!, Holy Hydraulics!, Holy Hypnotism!, Holy Interplanetary Yardstick!, Holy Kilowatts!, Holy Luther Burbank!, Holy Mashed Potatoes!, Holy Molars!, Holy Priceless Collection of Etruscan Snoods!, Holy Purple Cannibals!, Holy Ravioli!, Holy Rising Hemlines!, Holy Trolls and Goblins!, and Holy Uncanny Photographic Mental Processes! Holy Moley!, aren't you glad that's over?

  While at that site, check out:

http://www.tvacres.com/languages_phrases.htm

  The full text NEW YORK TIMES, WASHINGTON POST, and WALL STREET JOURNAL turned up zero hits.  (Strange, because the regular Proquest has a 1988 hit.  Maybe it has the WSJ up to 1985?)  WorldCat also has zero hits, so it wasn't the title of anything.
  The databases below have "Holy Guacamole" from the 1980s.  Do I not have 1960s and 1970s hits simply because my databases are so poor for that period?  Will the online LOS ANGELES TIMES have a 1960s "Holy Guacamole"?  Stay tuned!  Same time!  Same channel!

(DOW JONES newspapers database)
SPORTS
BOATING
ROGER LIVINGSTON IS CHALLENGING SAILING'S BIG LEAGUES
NEIL RABINOWITZ
01/03/1985
The Seattle Times
FOURTH
F5
(...)
Three years ago Roger Livingston bought his own advertising firm from Chiat Day, calling it Livingston and Co. He approaches his sailing with the same hungry aggressiveness as one sees in the advertising world. Shortly after his escapade in Port Madison Bay he read an article on a 30-foot speedster, an Olson 30, bought one and named it Holy Guacamole. His very first race was the Olson 30 National Championships.

LIFESTYLE / FOOD
WHAT'S COOKING
HOLY GUACAMOLE
ELAINE BENDER
04/24/1985
The Record, Northern New Jersey
b01

The California Avocado Commission reports a bumper crop of the green pear-shaped fruit for the third year in a row, with a retail sales projection of $440 million. Extensive acreage expansion in the mid-1970's is responsible for the hefty harvest.

OPINION
LETTERS
HOLY GUACAMOLE!
10/01/1985
The Record, Northern New Jersey
a18

Editor, The Record:
Your excellent coverage of the devastating Mexico City earthquake was complete except in one respect: You didn't get an explanation from the Rev. Jerry Falwell on why it occurred.

One of your recent editorials mentioned that Rev. Jerry Falwell suggested that AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) might be God's just punishment upon homosexuals for their sinful ways (hemophiliacs, Haitians, and second-graders weren't covered in his elucidation of divine wrath). The Mexico City disaster gives Jerry another chance to deliver a jeremiad. Why not follow it up?
I'm betting he'll blame things on (1) the native habits of tanking up on too much tequila and (2) overindulging use of the pagan Aztec-descended expletive "Holy guacamole!" JACK SHAFER Ho-Ho-Kus

FOOD
Holy guacamole! // Alas, it seems California wasn't birthplace of avocado salad
Elaine Corn:McClatchy News Service
04/29/1987
The Orange County Register
EVENING
22

It began innocently enough. I wanted to discover the origin of guacamole.
I had heard that someone invented the avocado-based salad (sometimes called a dip) not in Mexico, not in Spain, not even in Texas -- but in California.

The news came with a sense of glowing chauvinism. California, which has more than its share of noteworthy foods, was being named as the source of yet another delectable dish.
It seemed logical. California has been the site of avocado growing since the first tree was planted in Azusa, just east of Los Angeles, in 1848.

(PROQUEST database)
search.
  31.      USA snapshots: Holy guacamole; Galifianakis, Nick; USA Today, McLean, Va.; Apr 16, 1993; pg. D1

  32.      Holy guacamole, Super Bowl prospects are dipping; Falls, Joe; The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press, Detroit, Mich.; Jan 3, 1993; pg. E3

  33.      TRB from Washington: Holy Guacamole!; Kinsley, Michael; The New Republic, Washington; Apr 1, 1991; Vol. 204, Iss. 13; pg. 6, 1 pgs

  34.      Holy Guacamole: Growers Battle Bandits, Fallacy of Fat; Kinnander, Kimberly; Orange County Business Journal, Newport Beach; Jan 22, 1990; Vol. 12, Iss. 35; 1; pg. 1

  35.      VIGILANTE BAT;The Serio-Comic Hero, Caped & On the Case; [FINAL Edition]; Henry Allen; The Washington Post (pre-1997 Fulltext), Washington, D.C.; Jun 18, 1989; pg. g.01

  36.      Holy guacamole!/You can go from grocery to garden to fruit salad; [2 STAR Edition]; WILLIAM D. ADAMS; Houston Chronicle (pre-1997 Fulltext), Houston, Tex.; Feb 18, 1989; pg. 2

  37.      Notebook: Holy Guacamole; Anonymous; The New Republic, Washington; Aug 1, 1988; Vol. 199, Iss. 5; pg. 14, 5 pgs

  38.      Small Business (A Special Report): Essay --- Life in the Hot-Sauce Lane: Our Man Strives To Be A Big Enchilada; By Ronald G. Shafer; Wall Street Journal, New York, N.Y.; Jun 10, 1988; Eastern edition; pg. 1