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Sam Hill is an American English slang phrase, a euphemism or minced oath for "the devil" or "hell" personified (as in, "What in the Sam Hill is that?"). Etymologist Michael Quinion and others date the expression back to the late 1830s; [1] [2] they and others [3] consider the expression to have been a simple bowdlerization , with, according to ...
- Alia Hoyt
- Son of a Gun. It's pretty hard to definitively know where any type of slang originated, so it's no surprise that etymologists disagree over how "son of a gun" came to be.
- Dadgummit. Call it what you will – dadgummit, dagnabbit or goldarnit, these alterna-swear words are simply ways your grandparents got around breaking any biblical commandments against "taking the Lord's name in vain" outright.
- H-E-double-hockey-sticks. Our grandparents really thought they were getting away with swearing with this phrase, but we're all bright enough to know that H-E-double-hockey-sticks is just another way to say "hell."
- Sam Hill. Ever wondered who Sam Hill was and what he did so wrong to have elders yelling out his name all the time ("What in the Sam Hill are you talking about, boy?").
Feb 6, 2022 · “Sam Hill” is used because “Hill” sounds like “hell,” not because of anything some guy named Sam Hill did, which is why the identity of the original—if there even is one—doesn’t ...
What in (the) Sam Hill? An exclamation used to express surprise, shock, anger, disgust, etc. ("Sam Hill" is a minced oath for "hell," used for emphasis.) What in the Sam Hill do you think you're doing?
Sam Hill is a polite way to say hell, used to express surprise or strong feeling. Learn the meaning, pronunciation and translations of this US slang term.
Sam Hill definition: hell (used especially in WH-questions as a mild oath expressing exasperation and usually preceded by in or the). See examples of SAM HILL used in a sentence.
Used as an intensifier after a question word (who, what, where, when, why, and how) to express extreme confusion, surprise, or aggravation. Often erroneously written or pronounced as "in Sam Hell." Primarily heard in US.
