What Is 'Holay Molay'? The Popular Ironic 'Holy Moly' Emoticon Explained

Plenty of emojis exist online, whether specifically made for your favorite social media app, like Messenger or WhatsApp, or emoticons created with punctuation marks or letters. Each is a way of expressing yourself online, whether they're used for their intended purposes or ironically, like how the Skull Emoji has become a slang term to express how dead you are from laughing.

Another popular example of an emoji that has lost its original meaning is the 'Holy Moly' Emoji, which is a yellow emoticon saying ''Holy Moly.'' But what is this Holy Moly Emoji exactly, and how has it grown so popular in meme culture? Here's everything you need to know.

What Is The Holy Moly Emoji

The Holy Moly Emoji, also commonly called Holay Molay, is a yellow emoji saying "Holy moly!" with a visible speech bubble. It was created by the website Symbols & Emoticons on August 6th, 2013, and designed for usage on Facebook. It was made for Facebook Messenger and was part of the website's "Speaking Smileys" series. Soon after, the website launched a mobile app with an animated, voiced-over emoji version (shown below).

Where Does The Emoji Come From?

Originally released on August 6th, 2013, the emoji was initially made to be used for Facebook Messenger. It was released on a website called Symbols & Emoticons For Facebook!, and later on created a mobile application for the smileys called the Talking Smileys Emoji – Funny in 2017.

By 2021, reuploads of the original gif started surfacing across the internet, with the most prominent being a moldy version of the emoticon on YouTube, titled "holy moly," receiving over 737k views since its initial release (shown below).

How Is The Emoji Used In Memes?

Although the original emoji was released more than a decade ago, it saw prominent usage in memes in the early 2020s, particularly in 2013, as the emoji was used amongst other emoticons in various Pinkcore edits by content creators such as Ballincat43, and other cat-related TikTok creators.

One of the more likely first instances of the meme was a viral repost of a video posted by Tiktoker @danx2m in 2022, which received over 2.6 million plays in a year. Over time, the Holy Moly emoji became increasingly common in Silly Cat videos, such as the one posted by @sillycart on September 20th, 2023 (shown below, left), or a rhythmic remix, such as the one posted by @.rythmic (shown below, right).

For the full history of the Holy Moly emoji, check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.