Holy Mackerel!

[Johnyxxx]

Hello,

Is the idiom Holy Mackerel! common in modern English? I am asking because with the exception of Gordon Ramsay´s cooking shows I have seldom heard it to be used in TV, movies etc.


Thank you very much.

 

[Rover_KE]

I haven't heard it for a long time.

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

In my experience, everyone knows it, but nobody uses it.

 

[Raymott]

... though naturally there could be a place for it on a cooking show. I won't ask what he was cooking.

 

[Skrej]

It's still used some, but it's rare. I've used it myself, but not on a regular basis. I suspect when I've used it, it was one of those moments when you start to say something a bit coarser, but then realize there are delicate ears around you.

Similar versions are 'holy moly' and 'holy maloley'.

Course profanity is so common nowadays that it's sometimes more shocking to say something innocuous.

 

[emsr2d2]

Gordon Ramsay is well-known for barely being able to get through a sentence without swearing. "Holy mackerel" seems very tame for him. It's possible that he's been told to clean his language up for TV these days. Perhaps he now uses that phrase in place of something far worse, so that he can keep his job!

 

[Johnyxxx]

Gordon Ramsay is well-known for barely being able to get through a sentence without swearing. "Holy mackerel" seems very tame for him. It's possible that he's been told to clean his language up for TV these days. Perhaps he now uses that phrase in place of something far worse, so that he can keep his job!

I do not think so; I heard Ramsay say "Holy Mackerel!" in one of the episodes of his TV show and a moment later he threw in his traditional "F**k me!"

That´s him all over!

 

[emsr2d2]

Phew! I'm relieved to hear it. I was worried he was softening in his old age. For a few years here, he was known as "Gordon F*ckin' Ramsay".

 

[Johnyxxx]

Frankly, if one sees what the cooks and "chefs" store in their freezers and refrigerators, all the rotten vegetables, fruits and decayed meat, how the ignorant pseudo managers have no clue about what´s going on in their restaurants, one can not blame Gordon for being a little bit indecent and rude to them.

 

[Skrej]

I don't really watch the cooking shows much, or for that much TV (in fact, I don't even own a tv), but my understanding of Ramsey was that he was a notoriously foul-mouthed temperamental, brash jack*ss. However, I've recently come to think that might just be a persona he uses to help promote the show - every show needs an antagonist to p*ss everyone off.

The reason I'm thinking it might just be a persona, is that the other week a non-native English speaking coworker was asking me about some English words on a Youtube video about cranberry relish. The chef was British, so she was having a little trouble making out the accent on some less common culinary vocabulary.

To my surprise, it was a very cordial Ramsey doing series of holiday cooking lessons with younger children. He was very soft spoken and jovial, even when the kids (being kids) didn't pay attention to instructions very well. It was like a completely different person from his adult shows.

I suppose he might just have been toning it down since he was working with kids, but then I remember seeing one episode of some other show of his where he apparently goes around helping struggling restaurant owners. He was direct about his critique, but it wasn't confrontational or abusive, even when the owner/chef refused to take his advice and told Ramsey he was wrong. He simply said "I'm sorry, then I can't help you. Goodbye". He turned around and left without so much as another word. In the post interview, he merely lamented that he was disappointed because this was the first time he'd be unable to help a client, but nary a disparaging word towards the owner, who was admittedly a bit of an *ss herself.

So, I'm kind of starting to think that the foul-mouthed abusive thing may just be an act to stir the pot. (Ha! see what I did there?!)