Hellmouth

[Jesse T Sheidlower]

>
> Journalist and writer Jon Katz writes a stimulating article on high
> schools as bastions of oppression, and uses the word "Hellmouth" to descr=
> ibe
> it.=20
>
> http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=3D99/04/25/1438249
>
> I've never heard of hellmouth before, but a definition I found at
> http://members.aol.com/hecate6666/I25Y3.htm leads me to believe Hellmouth
> originated in some fantasy/role-playing game, either digital or analog:

The word _hellmouth,_ and the example you cite referring to Xander,
come from _Buffy the Vampire Slayer._ The hellmouth is the portal
to a demon dimension, sort of a universe on a tangent to our own,
from which our concepts of Hell come, apparently, in the town of
Sunnydale. It is a mouth to Hell.

I'm sure Mike Adams could give you cites.

Jesse Sheidlower
Random House
<jester at panix.com>