heck English · revision 10496

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|attested=1865|origins=en hell}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /hɛk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a euphemistic alteration of [[hell]],^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)^(SOED 2002)^(Collins 2023) originally northern English dialect.^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A mild oath: by 1865.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The SOED dates it to the late 19th century, in exclamations such as ''what the heck'' where hell could always be substituted,^(SOED 2002) and the English Dialect Dictionary records ''what the heck?'' in Lancashire and Cheshire.^(Wright 1898) As an intensive, ''a heck of a lot'', it is also used.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1865 – heck, for hell.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Interjection===

+ # ''(informal)'' Used as a mild oath or exclamation of annoyance or surprise.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(informal)'' Used as an intensive: ''a heck of a mess''.^(AHD)

+

+ ==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.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)^(Collins 2023) Another heck, to give a short dry cough, is imitative.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}