heck

Pronunciation

• IPA: /hɛk/^[1]

Etymology

It is a euphemistic alteration of hell,^[2][3][4][5] originally northern English dialect.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A mild oath: by 1865.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The SOED dates it to the late 19th century, in exclamations such as what the heck where hell could always be substituted,^[4] and the English Dialect Dictionary records what the heck? in Lancashire and Cheshire.^[6] As an intensive, a heck of a lot, it is also used.^[7]

Timeline

• 1865 – heck, for hell.^[2]

Modern meaning

Interjection

1. (informal) Used as a mild oath or exclamation of annoyance or surprise.

Noun

1. (informal) Used as an intensive: a heck of a mess.

Word family

• heckuva

Related words

• hell
• darn
• gosh

Usage notes

A different heck, from Middle English, is a variant of hatch: a grating in a river to stop fish, a rack for fodder, or the lower half of a door, in northern and Scots dialect.^[4][8][5] Another heck, to give a short dry cough, is imitative.^[4]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
6. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press