Toledo, Ohio, Is Fine, but the Holy Toledo Is the One in Spain

Hey there, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, my name is Dallas Hyde. I’m calling from just outside of Atlanta, Georgia.

We’re glad to have you, Dallas. What’s up?

I’m calling you guys about this expression that my brother-in-law uses, and then subsequently my wife has picked up from him.

And it’s always kind of like gotten under my skin a little bit because it just seems so silly.

And the expression is holy Toledo.

Holy Toledo.

And in what context would he use this?

I think he would use it to avoid using a curse word like holy cow or holy moly, you know, kind of like that, right?

What grates on you about it?

Oh, it just always seems so silly.

It never made any sense to me.

So, you know, you know, maybe it won’t seem so silly to me if I if I actually understood the meaning.

You know, I always thought like Toledo kind of sounded like arbitrary.

You’re wondering why it wasn’t Holy Valdosta or Holy Waycross.

Because you’re thinking of Toledo, Ohio.

Yeah. Yeah. That’s that’s what I assume it is.

Toledo, Ohio.

What if I told you it was Toledo, Spain?

Toledo, Spain. Really?

Yeah. And there’s a reason for it.

Toledo, Spain, since 1085, the year 1085, has been well known as a religious center for both Islam and Christianity.

It is filled with mosques and churches and places of worship and places of pilgrimage and beautiful buildings.

And even today, it is kind of this magical place of religious coexistence.

And that’s not to say it hasn’t had its long periods of strife and religious conflict.

But there are just this amazing history of art and sword making and metal work.

And El Greco has done paintings of its skyline.

And Cervantes referred to Toledo as Old Holy City and Don Quixote.

And it’s just kind of got this reputation as a place, a spiritual place.

And so besides all of this, Holy Toledo has got kind of an assonance.

You know, it kind of nearly rhymes.

And so it just kind of sounds nice in the mouth.

Oh, I mean, that is, I never expected such a profound answer.

Yeah, it’s been around, I don’t know how long, I think I found it back at least 100 years, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s older than that.

In Spanish, we say Toledo in English, but Toledo, Toledo is more like the real Spanish, Toledo, holy Toledo.

Wow, that’s incredible.

How about that?

Holy mackerel.

Wow.

Holy mackerel.

Holy cow.

Exactly.

Holy cow.

Oh, wow.

So you think you’ll pick it up now?

Maybe I will use it.

I just always thought it sounded so silly.

Why aren’t we replacing all the other holy expressions that we have with Toledo?

Well, thanks, guys.

Yeah, sure.

It looks like you’ve got a vacation in your future going to Toledo, Spain.

I would love to.

Yeah.

All right.

Take care of yourself now.

All right.

Thanks, guys.

Bye-bye.

Thanks, Dallas.

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