Stephanie and her curious two - year - former require to acknowledge why we sometimes say “ Holy Mackerel ! ” Unfortunately , the answer is about as clear as the tomato sauce Brits like to douse the fish in .
Mackerel imagevia Shutterstock
One matter most experts agree on is that the phrase is a euphemism for Holy Mary . blurt out “ Holy Mackerel ” rather of taking the Madonna ’s name in vain is along the same line as saying “ Darn it all , ” “ Oh , fudge , ” or my mom ’s personal favorite , “ God … Bless America . ”
But why was the North Atlantic fish chosen to asterisk in the phrase as opposed to “ Holy Muffin , ” “ Holy Muskrat ” or any other semi - silly news that starts with “ M”?Cupboard Love : A Dictionary of Culinary Curiositiesoffers an explanation , though you may not want to share it with your two - year - old , Stephanie .
“ Mackerel , ” it says , meant two things back in the 14th century : the Pisces , of form , but also " pander . " Why ? There are two possible reasons :
1 . The Dutch word “ makelaar ” mean “ agent ” or “ pitchman , ” which was eventually adopted as a slang term term for an entrepreneur of the chassis .
2 . There ’s patently a democratic notion ( I had never heard of it , but it would n’t be out of line to hint that my knowledge of Pisces is miss ) that male mackerels guide female Clupea harangus to their mates every springiness . It ’s not straight , but the belief may have chip in shape to the reason mackerel is also used as the term for panderer .
This is also the likelyorigin of the word“Mack , ” as in , “ The Daddy Mack will make youjump , jump . ”
Of course , none of this explicate why anyone would think “ Holy Pimp ” is a undecomposed option than “ Holy Mary . ”
