Of course, not all "holocausts" are bad. The ones that were central to ancient Greek religion probably mostly would have pissed of PETA.... to would-be downvo

Of course, not all "holocausts" are bad. The ones that were central to ancient Greek religion probably mostly would have pissed of PETA.... to would-be downvoters: "Holocaust" means essentially "to burn whole" and was originally a technical term in Greek religion for animal sacrifices(usually funerary) that weren't eaten but rather were burned whole. Later it takes on the connotation of total annihilation and disaster, and hence is applied particularly to ha'shoah as a rough translation (I think that means simply "the disaster" in Hebrew).