Sam Hill
(Redirected from what the sam hill)
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
No suitable person is known to be the original for this. Probably intended as a substitute for hell or, more fully, for "damned hell".
Pronunciation edit
Audio (AU) (file)
Noun edit
- (slang) An intensifier.
- What the Sam Hill do you think you're doing?
- Who the Sam Hill does he think he is?
- Where in Sam Hill is that dog off to?
- 1960 July 11, Harper Lee, chapter 3, in To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa., New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC:
- Walter poured syrup on his vegetables and meat with a generous hand. He probably would have poured it into his milk glass had I not asked what the sam hill he was doing.