# "{blank} as Hell?"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blank-as-hell/15483
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [March 30, 2000, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blank-as-hell/15483 "2000-03-30T19:32:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2000, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blank-as-hell/15483/1 "2000-03-30T19:32:00Z")
What is up with everything being “whatever as Hell?” I heard someone say today, “I’m bloated as Hell.” Hell is bloated? In what way? Overstuffed with souls? Heat buildup?
But that’s not all - “mad as Hell,” “crowded as Hell,” or, my favorite oxymoron, “cold as Hell.” I’m sure you’ve heard more examples.
I would think that the only thing acceptable “as Hell” would be “ **hot**.”
And another thing - shouldn’t the correct phrase be, “I _couldn’t_ care less?” To say, “I _could_ care less” implies that the specific thing to which your care level is so low is _not_ at the _absolute bottom_ of your list of things to care about, so I would think that by saying you _couldn’t_ care less states unequivocably that it is, indeed, the very last item on said list.
Little grammatical things that bug me - next time on Geraldo!
Esprix
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[Ask the Gay Guy!](http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/001376.html)
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### Author:  [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2000, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blank-as-hell/15483/2 "2000-03-30T19:36:00Z")
I surmise that it came about from people saying “hot as hell”, and once that phrase became commonplace, the “…as hell” part got reused. That seems to happen a lot in American English.
Related question? How did the F-Word get to be commonly used as an intensifier (example, “it’s F#@&ing hot in here” would presumably be hotter than “it’s hot in here”)?
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## If you say it, mean it. If you mean it, do it. If you do it, live it. If you live it, say it.
Joe Cool
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### Author:  [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2000, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blank-as-hell/15483/3 "2000-03-30T19:38:00Z")
Esprix, you’re right. It should be: I _couldn’t_ care less. People who say it the other way are stupid as hell.
🙂
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### Author:  [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2000, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blank-as-hell/15483/4 "2000-03-30T20:23:00Z")
It bugs the hell out me the way people use the word “literally”.
As in “That joke **literally** cracked me up!”
What in Sam’s hell is that all about? Why in the hell do people talk that way?
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New and Improved
Enright3
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### Author:  [@aschrott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aschrott)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2000, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blank-as-hell/15483/5 "2000-03-30T20:26:00Z")
This thread is all funny as hell n’ shit–literally 🙂
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### Author:  [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2000, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blank-as-hell/15483/6 "2000-03-30T20:29:00Z")
I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!
Um, excuse me. Carry on.
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### Author:  [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2000, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blank-as-hell/15483/7 "2000-03-30T20:33:00Z")
I could care less about people who wouldn’t recognize irony if it hit them in the face. Literally. 😃
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“No,” he replied, and smiled seraphically, as was his wont.
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### Author:  [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2000, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blank-as-hell/15483/8 "2000-03-30T20:45:00Z")
I’m just glad I found this group of jokesters.
Make sure it’s notated that I could care less what my real life friends think of my online ones. I’m blessed as hell. Literally.
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### Author:  [@DarkDragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkDragon)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2000, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blank-as-hell/15483/9 "2000-03-30T20:52:00Z")
Cabbage: I guess you have to take this with a grain of salt… what ever the hell that means!
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“I am so smart, s-m-r-t!”
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### Author:  [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2000, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blank-as-hell/15483/10 "2000-03-30T20:55:00Z")
It means that irregardless of what is said, you take it with a grain of salt, literally. This is funny as hell.
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New and Improved
Enright3
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### Author:  [@Nu\_Vo\_Da\_Da](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nu_Vo_Da_Da)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2000, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blank-as-hell/15483/11 "2000-03-30T21:04:00Z")
All right, I can understand why you would have a problem with “(x) as hell” in most cases. But your examples? “Crowded as hell” doesn’t seem to inappropriate to me…
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### Author:  [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2000, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blank-as-hell/15483/12 "2000-03-30T21:29:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Originally posted by **Nu Vo Da Da** :
>
> “Crowded as hell” doesn’t seem to inappropriate to me…
OK, we’ll grant you that one… 🙂
And as for the rest of you:
**GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!**
“Irregardless…” “could care less…” “literally…” can’t… breathe… losing… consciousness… in sea of… grammar… {thud}
(Literally!)
Esprix
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[Ask the Gay Guy!](http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/001376.html)
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### Author:  [@MtnMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MtnMan)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2000, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blank-as-hell/15483/13 "2000-03-30T22:57:00Z")
Damn, I wanted irregardless. Why in the hell didn’t you let me take that one.
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### Author:  [@Nanno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanno)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2000, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blank-as-hell/15483/14 "2000-03-31T04:10:00Z")
## I already did the bat out of hell thing
oops
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### Author:  [@ASPA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASPA)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2000, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blank-as-hell/15483/15 "2000-03-31T05:04:00Z")
Originally posted by Esprix:
“I _couldn’t_ care less?” [is correct, not] “I _could_ care less”
Little grammatical things that bug me…
Esprix
_ **ME TOO! THANX! I CAN"T BELIEVE THAT WHEN IT COMES TO GRAMMA SOME PEOPLES COULD CARE LESS! heheh, no that always bugs me, too.** _
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### Author:  [@ASPA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASPA)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2000, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blank-as-hell/15483/16 "2000-03-31T05:06:00Z")
Great thread.
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### Author:  [@Anti\_Pro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anti_Pro)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2000, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blank-as-hell/15483/17 "2000-03-31T05:48:00Z")
It is irritating to hear someone use ‘going’ in place of ‘saying, or said’
Then Beastie goes, ‘oh, shoot girl, you know?’
and I ‘go’ back at Beastie, ‘beastie, like, I really, like, you know, get all excited, um, uh, you know, like, yeah’ AHHHHHHH!!!
I know grammar isn’t taught much anymore, but people SAY things, they don’t ‘go’ them.
## And, can the overabundance of ‘you knows’ and ‘like’. Like ya’know??
Judy
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“Um, according to who? Nothing more than a high brow troll, though occasionally the bi polar personality swung in a constructive direction on innocuous topics.” Omniscient
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### Author:  [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2000, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blank-as-hell/15483/18 "2000-03-31T07:39:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Originally posted by Esprix: “I couldn’t care less?” [is correct, not] “I could care less” Little grammatical things that bug me…Esprix ME TOO! THANX! I CAN"T BELIEVE THAT WHEN IT COMES TO GRAMMA SOME PEOPLES COULD CARE LESS! heheh, no that always bugs me, too.
ASPA, what… the… hell… ? I just don’t know what to say. You’ve always confused the shit out of me, but this post is somewhat less sensical than usual.
And I DO care about my Gramma. She’s a sweet little old lady.
–Tim
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You can’t accidently create a handicapped baby whilst smoking pot.
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### Author:  [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2000, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blank-as-hell/15483/19 "2000-03-31T15:32:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Originally posted by **ASPA** :
>
> ME TOO! THANX! I CAN"T BELIEVE THAT WHEN IT COMES TO GRAMMA SOME PEOPLES COULD CARE LESS! heheh, no that always bugs me, too.
Other things that bug me:
[ul][li]People who post in bolded, italicized all caps[/li][li]People who spell “thanks” as “THANX”[/li][li]People who can’t spell “grammar” (and I wonder how your “Gramma” is doing these days)[/li][li]People who use a quotation instead of an apostrophe in their contractions[/li][li]People who say “peoples” when they mean “people”[/li][li]People who can’t capitalize the first word in a sentence[/ul][/li]
Oh, and did I mention people who start “ask me” threads with no intention of answering questions just to see their name printed on a computer screen? :rolleyes:
Esprix
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[Ask the Gay Guy!](http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/001376.html)
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### Author:  [@the\_Scarlet\_Pimpernel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_Scarlet_Pimpernel)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2000, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blank-as-hell/15483/20 "2000-03-31T21:12:00Z")
## As far as “literally” goes, my Danish-English dictionary gives this example of how to use it: “Her eyes literally popped out of her head.” I thought it was funny as hell.
I’ll stop procrastinating tomorrow.
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