[Ads-l] Hella research inquiry

Tue Sep 29 02:40:43 UTC 2020

I was thinking based on some of (summa?) these cites that cases like “hell of fun” and “hell of fine” below might have been vectors for reanalysis:  “hell of fun” > “hella fun”, or “hell o fun”, whence “hell o tough”. But that was in the 1987-88 yearbook, and given the earlier yearbook cases back to ’82 that Ben posted subsequently, I’m not sure how much of a factor this was.  Anyway—thanks to both of you for the antedates and the localization to the East Bay.  

LH

> On Sep 28, 2020, at 9:15 PM, Peter Reitan <pjreitan at HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> The immediate predecessor to "hella" appears to be "hell of," which appears in the Berkeley High School yearbook from at least as early as the 1983-1984 school year.
> 
> The Berkeley High School Yearbook for the school year 1983-1984 (at page 124) includes an item entitled "Current Events Poll."  One of the entries is for the "Most Used Slang."
> 
> The winning slang term is, "Hell Of."  There are no examples of use.
> 
> The Berkeley High School Yearbook for the school year 1984-1985 includes several examples of the expression.
> 
> On page 381, it appears as one of the two favorite sayings of a student named Alan 'Guapo' Lee.  "'Hell of Fine!!' Go for it!!"
> 
> At page 414, a student named Sara Teegarden listed a favorite saying, "You are your best friend and worst enemy - so hell of be and do what you want in life - reach supreme happiness. Definitely."
> 
> At page 230, it has three paragraphs, each saying the same thing in three different dialects, two different slang dialects and a non-slang translation.  Both sets of slang included the expression, "hell of" used in the same way.
> 
> BHS Dialect (Slang Users)
> 
> “Man, I was scammin’ on this hell of fresh tendah at this boomin’ rager last Saturday night and I was hell of juiced cuz’ she was plastered and I was gonna take her for a ride in my icey beemer, but then this homeboy told me to chill on his fine babes. I was illin’, so I decided to jam.”
> 
> “Hey dude, I was totally fried at this hell of rad party Saturday night and I was talking to this hot girl and I was totally stoked ‘cuz she was hooched, but then this burley hoser told me to lay off his woman.  I was totally bummed, so I took of on my board but this bogus rock got in the way and I scrubbed.”
> 
> Them Non Slang Speakin’ People. “I was very interested in a lovely young lady at a rather upbeat social gathering that I attended Saturday evening.  I was feeling quite positive towards the situation because she was oblivious to her surroundings.  Just when I decided to drive her home in my automobile, her alleged partner told me that his date was taken and I would probably do better with someone single.  Due to this interjection I became quite solemn, so I decided to depart.”
> 
> 
> The Berkeley High School Yearbook for the school year 1987-1988 is the earliest one I identified with "hella" (page 410, "Byron was hella cool") by that spelling.  The same issue includes the alternate spellings, "hell of" (for example at page 392, "we had hell of fun (10th grade!!!)) and "hell o" (page 393, "Green Fire Truck hell o tough").
> 
> ------ Original Message ------
> From: "Laurence Horn" <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> To: ADS-L at listserv.uga.edu
> Sent: 9/28/2020 5:14:39 PM
> Subject: Re: Hella research inquiry
> 
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>> Subject:      Re: Hella research inquiry
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> 
>> Thanks for the pointer, Peter.  I suspect any early =E2=80=9Chella=E2=80=9D=
>> s would be more likely to show up within the signed tributes under the =
>> yearbook photos rather than in the printed text, but who knows? =20
>> 
>> LH
>> 
>>> On Sep 28, 2020, at 7:52 PM, Peter Reitan <pjreitan at HOTMAIL.COM> =
>> wrote:
>>> =20
>>> Berkeley public library has BHS yearbooks online, through archive.org.
>>> =20
>>> =
>> https://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org/topics/berkeley-history/personal-his=
>> tory
>>> ________________________________
>>> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of =
>> Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>>> Sent: Monday, September 28, 2020 11:42:47 AM
>>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Subject: Hella research inquiry
>>> =20
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header =
>> -----------------------
>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>>> Subject:      Hella research inquiry
>>> =
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------=
>> -----
>>> =20
>> 
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> 
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