what the hell

English

Etymology

Shortened from earlier what in the hell.

Pronunciation

  • Audio (General Australian):(file)

Phrase

what the hell

  1. (mildly vulgar, slang) An intensive form of what.
    What the hell is going on?
    What the hell is that?!
    What the hell did you do?
    What the hell is this?!
    What the hell is happening?!
    What the hell are you?!
    What the hell is it?!
    What the hell happened here?
    What the hell do you want?
    What the hell is wrong with you?!
    What the hell do you think you're doing!?
    What the hell was that?!
    What the hell is with you?!
    What the hell was this!?
    What the hell is all this!?
    What the hell is all that!?
  2. (mildly vulgar, slang) Indicating acceptance, indulgence, or insouciance: Why not? Who cares?
    It’s expensive, but what the hell, you only live once.
    Surprisingly, dieters ate more ice cream after eating a large milkshake than after eating a small one. Dr. Polivy calls this the “What the hell” effect, which she describes as thinking “What the hell, my diet’s already broken, so I might as well eat everything in sight.”
    • 1927, Don Marquis, “song of mehitabel”, in archy and mehitabel:
      i have had my ups and downs / but wotthehell wotthehell / yesterday sceptres and crowns / fried oysters and velvet gowns / and today i herd with bums / but wotthehell wotthehell
    • 1964, Robin Douglas-Home, chapter 12, in Hot for Certainties, London: Longmans, →OCLC, page 135:
      Then one afternoon he pounced on me and before one could say Jack Robinson his hand was in my shirt. He was so strong! I struggled but his hand kept fishing about in my bra. Then I suddenly thought, “Oh jimminy cricket, what the hell” and gave up the struggle. It was extraordinary, the feeling.

Usage notes

  • Thought to be more vulgar in the US and Philippines whilst less vulgar in the UK, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
  • Although most intensive additions to question words (e.g. the hell, the fuck, on earth, etc.) are semantically interchangeable, most of them cannot replace what the hell in indicating acceptance, indulgence, or insouciance (sense 2 above). For example, what the fuck cannot usually have this meaning (but see sense 2 of what the fuck). However, what the heck can.

Synonyms

Intensive forms of what?
Indicating acceptance, indulgence, or insouciance

Derived terms

Translations

See also

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.