what the hell
English
editEtymology
editShortened from earlier what in the hell.
Pronunciation
editAudio (General Australian): (file)
Phrase
edit- (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?!
- (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
Usage notes
edit- 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
editIntensive forms of what?
Indicating acceptance, indulgence, or insouciance
Derived terms
editRelated terms
edit- See the hell
Translations
editan intensive form of what
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why not?
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