holy show en · NOUN
Etymology
Compared by the English Dialect Dictionary to the phrase holy bizen, holy byzont; see bizen.
Meanings
-
A shameful spectacle; a scene.
[…] 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.
1827, [Gerald Griffin], chapter 1, in The Half Sir (Tales of the Munster Festivals; 1), London: Saunders and Otley, →OCLC, page 229:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| holy shows | Number=Plur | lexicographic |