Hella: Difference between revisions
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{{About|the word}} |
{{About|the word}} |
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'''Hella''' is a word associated with [[Northern California]] |
'''Hella''' is a word associated with [[Northern California]], mainly the Bay Area. It is a [[contraction (grammar)|contraction]] of the phrase "hell of a" or "hell of a lot [of]". Hella is also a common name in the Eastern Hemisphere.<ref>http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Hella</ref> |
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It often appears in place of the words "really", "a lot", "totally", "very" and in some cases "yes". Whereas ''hell of a'' is generally used with a [[noun]], according to linguist [[Pamela Munro]], ''hella'' is primarily used to modify an [[adjective]] such as "good".<ref>{{cite news |
It often appears in place of the words "really", "a lot", "totally", "very" and in some cases "yes". Whereas ''hell of a'' is generally used with a [[noun]], according to linguist [[Pamela Munro]], ''hella'' is primarily used to modify an [[adjective]] such as "good".<ref>{{cite news |
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|url=http://128.11.143.113/specialenglish/archive/2002-12/a-2002-12-18-2-1.cfm |
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Revision as of 05:52, 19 March 2012
Hella is a word associated with Northern California, mainly the Bay Area. It is a contraction of the phrase "hell of a" or "hell of a lot [of]". Hella is also a common name in the Eastern Hemisphere.[1] It often appears in place of the words "really", "a lot", "totally", "very" and in some cases "yes". Whereas hell of a is generally used with a noun, according to linguist Pamela Munro, hella is primarily used to modify an adjective such as "good".[2]
According to lexicographer Allan A. Metcalf, the word is a marker of Northern California dialect.[3] According to Colleen Cotter, "Southern Californians know the term ... but rarely use it." Sometimes the term grippa is used to mock "NorCal" dialect, with the actual meaning being the opposite of hella.[4]
History
Earliest studies of the term
Hella has likely existed in California English since at least the mid 1970s. By 1993, Mary Bucholtz, a linguist at the University of California, Santa Barbara collated materials from an urban high school (Mt. Eden High School) in the Bay Area, and found that hella was "used among Bay Area (and more specifically Hayward) youth of all racial, ethnic, and socio-economic backgrounds and both genders." "Hella" remains part of the dialect of Northern California, where it has grown in popularity. It is believed by most that the word originated in the eastern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area (Hayward).[verification needed] James Hetfield and the members of Metallica were one of the first celebrities to use the word in both music and interviews.[citation needed] Having come from the bay area around the time the word's popularity spread, it could be said that he was one of the first people to bring "Hella" to the mainstream.
Nationwide spread
By 1997 the word had spread to hip hop culture, though it remained a primarily West Coast term.[5] With the release of the 2001 No Doubt song "Hella Good", one Virginian transplant in California "fear[ed] the worst: nationwide acceptance of this wretched term."[6]
In the South Park episode "Spookyfish", which was the 1998 Halloween special, the character Cartman repeatedly used the term hella to the annoyance of the other characters,[7] which contributed to its currency spreading nationally.[8] "You guys are hella stupid" is one of the phrases spoken by a talking Cartman doll released in 2006.[9] The Sacramento-based band Hella chose its name for the regional association; Zach Hill says "It's everywhere up here.... We thought it was funny, and everyone says it all the time."[10]
Worldwide spread
Hella was recently included on the BBC's list of 20 words that sum up the 2000-2009 decade.[11] Defining it as "An intensive in Youthspeak, generally substituting for the word "very", inclusion on the list marks its ascension into the international slang lexicon.
Usage
Intensifier
While intensifiers similar to hella exist in many colloquial varieties, hella is unique in its flexibility. It can be used to modify almost any part of speech, as shown below.
That pizza was hella good: hella modifies the adjective good, where Standard American English would use very.
I ate hella pizza: hella modifies the noun pizza, replacing a lot of.
I hella bought four pizzas: hella modifies the verb to buy, replacing really or totally.
I ran hella quickly to the pizza joint: hella modifies the adverb quickly, replacing very.
SI prefix
As of 2010, an online petition seeks to establish "hella-" as the SI prefix for 1027.[12] The prefix, which has since appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Daily Telegraph, and Wired, was implemented by Google in May 2010.[13][14][15]
References
- ^ http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Hella
- ^ "Campus Slang". Voice of America. December 19, 2002. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
- ^ Allan A. Metcalf (2000). How We Talk: American Regional English Today. Houghton Mifflin Reference Books. ISBN 0618043624.
- ^ Colleen Cotter (2001). USA Phrasebook. Lonely Planet. ISBN 9781864501827.
- ^ Lynette Holloway (January 5, 1997). "Shorties and Scholars Agree, the Word Is Rap". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
- ^ David Gentry (May 16, 2002). "I Hate Hella, All Montagues, and Thee". Charlottesville, Virginia: The Hook. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
- ^ "Spooky Fish Recap". TV.com. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
- ^ Kristin Carmichael (Spring 1999). "Yo, yo, yo ... Catch this Slang is used to unify the masses". CatBytes. California State University, Chico. Archived from the original on 2008-07-24. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
- ^ Luigi Lugmayr (October 28, 2006). "Must Have: Talking Cartman Action Figure". I4U News. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
- ^ Jeremy Scherer (October 15, 2003). "Hella: Slang name for a band that's hard to pigeonhole". Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
- ^ "A Portrait of the Decade". BBC. December 14, 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
- ^ Moore, Matthew (2010-03-02). "Hella number: scientists call for new word for 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
More than 20,000 scientists, students and members of the public have signed an online petition backing the new quantity, which would be used for figures with 27 zeros after the first digit.
- ^ "Jargon Watch". Wired. 18 (6). June 2010.
...a proposed metric prefix...useful for describing mega-measurements like Earth's mass (6 Hellagrams). The International Committee for Weights and Measures agreed to consider it after a Facebook petition garnered 30,000 signatures
- ^ "The Official Petition to Establish "Hella-" as the SI Prefix for 10^27". Facebook. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
- ^ Kim, Ryan (2010-05-24). "Google gets behind 'hella' campaign". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
16. Wiz Khalifa - Hella Dope (song) 2011
See also
- Skookum, a similar word used in the Pacific Northwest, from the Chinook Jargon
- Da kine, a similar expression in Hawaiian Pidgin
- Valspeak, a dialect spoken in 1970s to 1990s Southern California, especially in the namesake San Fernando Valley
External links
- hecka at the Double-Tongued Dictionary