holy show

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English

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Etymology

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Compared by the English Dialect Dictionary to the phrase holy bizen, holy byzont; see bizen.[1]

Noun

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holy show (plural holy shows)

  1. A shameful spectacle; a scene.
    • 1827, [Gerald Griffin], chapter 1, in The Half Sir (Tales of the Munster Festivals; 1)‎[1], London: Saunders and Otley, →OCLC, page 229:
      [] here am I now, in the flower o' my days, [] in this old box pitched up on top of a hill, and shaking to every blast o' wind like a straw upon the waters [] disgracen himself an' all belongen to him. There'll be a holy show med of us with the Wran-boys.

Usage notes

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  • Usually to make a holy show of something (or of oneself).

References

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  1. ^ Joseph Wright, editor (1902), “HOLY, adj.”, in The English Dialect Dictionary: [], volume III (H–L), London: Henry Frowde, [], publisher to the English Dialect Society, []; New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC, page 214, column 1:(2) — bizen or by·zont, a show, spectacle, or conspicuous or ridiculous object [] (18) — show, see (2)