Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. US) a general excl.

1917		J.E. Rendinell diary 9 June in One Man’s War (1928) 9: He didn’t say a thing until we started to raise a rough house & Oh, Boy, from then on we sure knew we were in the Marine Corp.
1928		C. McKay Home to Harlem 3: I’m crazy to see again the brown-skin chippies ’long Lenox Avenue. Oh boy!
1936		‘George Orwell’ Keep The Aspidistra Flying (1962) 30: Oh, boy! There’s a peach for you!
1948		C. Day Lewis Otterbury Incident 94: Oh boy, oh boy, did we go up in the air!
1953		Kramer & Karr Teen-Age Gangs 55: I seen it all myself. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!
1953		I. Hamilton Till Human Voices Wake Us 6: But now, oh boy, what a different picture.
1964		E. Shrake But Not For Love 229: ‘Hoo boy,’ Ben said. ‘A Catholic convert and a mystic. Worst combination I can think of’.
1989		C. Hiaasen Skin Tight 162: ‘Oh boy, a promotion,’ said John Murdock.
1997		N. Barlay Curvy Lovebox 176: Oh boy . . . she practically groans.
2000		Guardian Guide 5–11 Feb. 5: Oh boy, liver for dinner! Iron helps us play!