(pronounced [ˈaj kaˈɾamba]), from the Spanish interjections ay (denoting surprise or pain) and caramba (a minced oath for carajo), is an exclamation used in Spanish to denote surprise (usually positive).
[1] The exclamation became associated with the Madrid flamenco dancer and singer La Caramba in the 1780s.
[2][3] The knife-throwing villain in The Broken Ear (1935), a comic book in the Adventures of Tintin series, exclaims "Caramba!
[5] The fictional character Bart Simpson (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) popularized the phrase "¡Ay, caramba!"
He said it first in the 1988 short The Art Museum, one of several one-minute Simpsons cartoons that ran as interstitials on The Tracey Ullman Show from April 14, 1987 to May 14, 1989 on Fox, and he has used the catchphrase consistently throughout the series.