A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

hold with something • keep with something
hold with something— approve of or support smth.: I do not
hold with heavy drinking and wild parties.
keep with something —remain or stay with smth.: Keep with
the convoy during the whole voyage.
holy cow • sacred cow
holy cow —(exclam.) is used to express strong feelings of
astonishment, pleasure, or anger: “Holy cow!” Tod roared.
“Will I ever forget the look on the McGloys’ faces…”
sacred cow —said of smth. so cherished that it is regarded as
above criticism: Tories regard interest and profit as sacred cows
to be fattened at the expense of the people.
Holy Joe • Holy Willie
Holy Joe —(Nautical) a parson; a devoutly religious person:
They all have these Holy Joe voices when they start giving
their sermons.
Holy Willie —a hypocritically pious person: The Holy
– 179 –
Holy Joe

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Willies were just like the slave-owners who outlawed tradi-
tional African religions.
Note: 
Neither expression correlates in meaning with the phrase
Holy Moses
—(exclam.) used to express strong feelings of aston-
ishment, pleasure, or anger: Copland was astonished to see
things he had not looked at for over sixty years. “Holy Moses!”
he exclaimed, “I kept everything!”
Holy Roman Empire, the • Roman Empire, the
Holy Roman Empire, the —the Western part of the Roman
Empire as revived by Charlemagne in 
A
.
D
. 800: Francis II put
an end to the Holy Roman Empire by his abdication in 
1
806.
Roman Empire, the —that established by Augustus in 27 
B
.
C
.
and divided by Theodosius in 
A
.
D
. 395 into the Western or
Latin and Eastern or Greek Empire: Christianity floated into
the Roman Empire on the wave of credulity.