Amos and Andy & Holy Mackerel

[Daniel Cassidy]

Andy       : Yes, ah has! Ah done it lotsa times!

"Holih mackle, dae-uh, brothuh Andih!"

Holih-Mackle is the phonetic "rendering" (in what appears to be a phoney
African-American dialect) of the real Irish-American Dialect exclamation
Holy Mackerel.

Holy mackerel's real Irish orthography is also easy for non-Irish literate
eyes to "see," except for the aspirated "f" of fuil, meaning "lineage" or
"blood."

Holy mackerel !
Oille mac ri/ogh-fhuil ! (the "f" is  silent; pron. h-olly mac reo-uill)
Great Royal Blooded Son !

Oille: Great, Noble.
Mac :Son
Ri/ogh : Royal  (the / indicates the diacritical)
fuil : "blood," lineage, tribe, "race'  (the "f" of fhuil is not pron.)

Holy Gee
Oille Dia   (pron. holly djee; slender "d" = "j")
Great God.

"Hully Gee" was the famous comic character The Yellow Kid's motto in the
comics.

Holy Mackerel is as Irish-American as Mackerelville in the East 20s of old
NYC. It was a saol lom (slum) that gave birth to Tammany Boss Dick Croker's
feared Mackerel Gang of the 1870s and 80s.



Daniel Cassidy
Professor of Irish Studies
New College of California
San Francisco
irishstudies at newcollege.edu