boy howdy

interjection

US dialect

: wow

—used as an intensive and to express strong feeling (such as awe or surprise) usually about a statement that follows

To be honest … I really didn't expect to be all that impressed with an open-faced sandwich. Boy howdy, was I completely wrong.

—Taylor Six

We found some plants laden with the spiky fruit, which I collected with gusto. … But how to deal with those spines? Boy howdy are they nasty!

—Hank Shaw

Boy howdy, what a fun hour of television!

—Sean T. Collins

… boy howdy, does the man deliver, hamming it up in a brilliant parody of hard-boiled gangster posturing.

—Jay Edidin

Examples of boy howdy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And, boy howdy, look how far and wide our food staple has reached since then. —Rasputin Todd, The Enquirer, 12 Oct. 2022

And, boy howdy, was there ever plenty of giving going on. —Chris Coplan, The Arizona Republic, 18 Oct. 2021

Word History

Etymology

probably originally as a greeting

Note: Some early examples are either clearly friendly greetings (hence equivalent to "Howdy, boy!") or ambiguously either greeting or expression of surprise.

First Known Use

1911, in the meaning defined above