Where does the word "hella" come from? What started this latest trend of declining public etiquette? Ever since I first came to Bay Area a year ago, I've heard this word used so many times in so many unnecessary parts of a sentence that it bugs me when I hear it now. I tutor some high school freshman in East Palo Alto, and they seem to think acting ghetto as hell and saying "hella" multiple times in a sentence will get them somewhere in life. Honestly, if you talk like a dumbass in public, that's exactly how people are going to perceive you as: a dumbass. "OMG I like hella didnt understand this problem, it's hella hard and the teachers never pay attention to me, it's hella rude" /rant
You sure its from Cali? I dated a chick back in 99 that was from Rhode Island and she said it all the time. It was the first time I ever heard the word. Didnt hear it for a few years after that and then it seems a couple years ago everyone started saying it good. I dont think it was coined by surfers. Anyway this thread is hella stupid.
It's definitely gone beyond surfer dudes though, these kids throw it around like its a prerequisite for breathing in between sentences. I cringe every time the reiterate something I just taught them in their own "special" way: "So these proteins have like hella amino acids, and it's hella important for them to keep a shape because like that's how they function, right?" I was their age once too, and I thought mixing slang in often was cool for a little while too, until I realized it made me sound like a dumbass and no one believed I did my own work lol EDIT: "Hella" just sounds so much more stupid than "hell of a" though
I should've googled it first. UrbanDictionary: A multi-purpose word invented by people in north california, indigenous to the Bay Area. Adjective: To describe a lot of something or something good. Noun: A lot of Adverb: Suplemental, inferrs a great quantity or that you're doing something and DOING IT RIGHT! Interjection: An affirmation of what someone just said Adjective: This party is hella chill. Noun: I have hella. Adverb: The Bay area is ****** hella better than socal Interjection: Nicole: Dude that **** was off tha hook Jaime: hella!
Might have roots in CA....but the hillbillies in the south have used any method of shortening a word or sentence since time has began.....err...begun.... I contend that any lazy speech has its roots in the south. When you only have so many brain cells, you A) have to get your point across as soon as possible before you forget it. and... B) have to put it in terms, AKA, a short message.....so those listening will take the whole message in and be able to process it. Seems pretty straightforward to me. <3 my southern peeps, altho we did kick ur arse in the war.
Dear Mr. DocG, You done did yer best to splain the sitiashun, but thars one err in yous smarty-thinkins. While "Hella" may be from that thar Hollywood, it shud not be mistaked for "Hellu" which is the short form of the Dixie term "Helluva" I will use it in one of those long wordy things --- Bubba fergitted to throwed the farcracker after he litted it and it blew his fingers a helluva good ways off.
My cousins from Concord (outside the Bay Area in NorCal) have been saying since before I can remember....at least 10 years.
YEEEEEEEEEEHHAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWW I have never met a General Lee that could not get me out of the "hallar" that any other car woulda got stuck in.
its from NorCal, people from SoCal do not associate with them except for Raider fans. most of the aging hippy prius driving douches release their smug in this area as well. fwiw i started hearing it from NorCal kids about the same time i heard it from kids in New England that i knew.
"Hella" is a substitute for "really" Its hella hard Thats hella rude Thats hella bad ass He has hella mad skillz yo "hell of a" just doesnt fit its hell of a hard thats hell of a rude thats hell of a bad ass (well, maybe this one fits) He has hell of a mad skillz yo This is almost as bad at the Bostonian "wicked"
