Kooyeen  +  433221 Mon, 22 Oct 07 12:36 AM Hi, I sometimes (humorously) use the interjection Holy cannoli! Could the natives tell me what they think of that expression? Who uses it, where you heard it, what it makes you think... I read it some time ago in a comic strip. I think Mickey Mouse said it. Then I heard it in a video on Youtube, where a guy was doing a stereotypical New York accent. So I guess it has something to do with New Yorkers (Isn't Mickey Mouse from New York?) Thanks!!! Kooyeen Joined on Thu, Dec 22 2005 Italy Senior Member 4,971 Parental Advisory / Explicit Posts Accents

	Gil Galvanti  +  433225 Mon, 22 Oct 07 01:10 AM I've heard it and know what it means (whoa!), but I rarely hear anyone use it and never use it myself . Gil Galvanti Joined on Mon, Oct 15 2007 United States New Member 15

	Grammar Geek  +  433254 Mon, 22 Oct 07 04:25 AM I've never heard it, but it's cute. It seems no different than "holy cow" or "holy mackerel" or "holy smoke." No, Mickey Mouse was invented by Walt Disney, who did NOT live in New York. Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,673 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!

	Yankee  +  433264 Mon, 22 Oct 07 05:41 AM Hi Kooyeen I can't specifically remember ever having heard someone actually use that expression.  However, it's an expression that rings a bell, so I guess I must have heard it somewhere...   Yankee Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006 Connecticut, USA Veteran Member 6,502 Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain

	CalifJim  +  433309 Mon, 22 Oct 07 09:11 AM I've heard it once or twice, but not very regularly. I think native Americans would find it amusing in the mouth of an Italian, though! It's an equivalent, as GG says, of Holy cow or Holy smoke, an expression of astonishment like Wow! or Geez! or even, to select an expression of approximately the same (low) frequency of use, Geez Louise! CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,415 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

	Grammar Geek  +  433381 Mon, 22 Oct 07 02:31 PM I say "Geez Louise" all the time! The "Holy Cannoli" sounds like one of those "Batman and Robin" exchanges - from the old TV series when Robin was always saying things like that. Grammar Geek

	Kooyeen  +  433535 Mon, 22 Oct 07 07:32 PM Holy cannoli, so many replies! Thanks a lot. PS: I found out that Mickey Mouse lives in Mouseton. Kooyeen

	CalifJim  +  433962 Tue, 23 Oct 07 09:35 PM I say "Geez Louise" all the time! So I guess if you lived around here, I'd hear it a lot more, and I'd have to revise my opinion about its frequency of use! CJ CalifJim

	Grammar Geek  +  433965 Tue, 23 Oct 07 09:49 PM I think it's fair to say that the intensity of my profanity diminished as my children reached the age in which they repeated everything they heard. I'm pretty comfortable with their saying "Geez Louise" in front of strangers. Some of the other words that I perfected during my stint in the Navy would not be received so well. Grammar Geek