Talk:Hella (word)

What about Heller?

As a kid growing up in Indiana in the early 80's we used to say Heller ( -er instead of -a ). It was used in almost exactly the same way conversationally, but almost always in a negative context ( unlike the modern use of hella ). I remember being told by a older boy that the meaning was that whatever you were talking about was worthy of "going to hell" ( not that he was any authority ) But the point is, surely the word hella as a possible derivation of heller is pretty old ( I'm guessing the word made multiple go arounds in the nation since it's unlikely that a term from the midwest would migrate to California 99.69.57.73 (talk) 15:10, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

This seems so obvious

"Hella" has always seemed to be the obvious shortening of the idiom "hell of a", as in "that's one hell of a car". It can be used, as a noun modifier, in both a positive or negative sense. That's a hella car could mean, depending on context, that it's a rust bucket, or a speed demon.

--Having grown up in Northern California, I have never heard "hella" used as a direct noun modifier. "A hella car" doesn't make any sense in my understood context. The car could be "hella fast, "hella cool," "hella broken down," "hella crappy," etc. Or maybe someone has "hella cars," meaning they have many cars. If the use does not provide a substitute for "very" or "many" it's probably not used "correctly." I dispute the claim that "hella" is a contraction of "hella of a" in these sorts of circumstances. And, for the commentary on "heller," "hella" does not hold the same meaning for the same reason. It simply means "very" or "many." Or, as the article indicates, occasionally it can mean "yes." 204.120.68.190 (talk) 18:11, 21 April 2011 (UTC)

--Got to agree here. You can't say "that's a hella car" at all (as a norcal kid, lemme tell you it sounds strange to me!). You can maybe get off saying "that's hella car" with no "a" if you mean it's really big (so there's a lot of it). You can definitely say "that dude has hella cars," though, meaning a lot of 'em. Hella does not mean the same thing as "a hell of a". True (talk) 00:11, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Vandalism in World Wide Spread Section?

"However the word does not exist the Oxford Dictionary and thus there are less ten thousand instances per day where the word is used and thus there is no international spread at all."

I do not know if this is vandalism, some sort of poke at OED or what? But its "hella non sequitir" and I doubt it has a place in the article. — Falerin^{<talk>,<contrib>} 05:37, 17 June 2011 (UTC)