Why do people from the Bay say "hella" all the time?

[Jamaal510]

I just want to say that I find this word incredibly annoying. I know that it originated here in the Bay Area, and before I get flamed, I was born and raised here. But it drives me nuts whenever somebody says it. I don't hear other people talk like this, but I hear people from the Bay say it all the time, including my family.

[David__77]

1. I say "hella."

A lot of people (here in Sacramento) say it. I don't think about it because I've been around it for so long.

[arcane1]

2. I transplanted here in 1999, and it drove me crazy. Even worse: hecka

I assume it's a sort of a contraction of "a-hell-of-a...", and it may be, though it seems to be used in other ways too.

Like, instead of saying "we had a hell of a lot of corn at that cookout" it's "we had hella corn at that cookout"

Fortunately, I rarely hear it from friends

[Mr.Bill]

3. I don't think it's exclusively from the bay area.

I heard it in Los Angeles before I heard it anywhere else, and I'm 100 miles from the bay area and I heard it where I live, too. It annoys me, but not that big of a deal.

[bayareaboy]

14. I heard it from L A folks first ...

then it spread over the valley north and it wound up all over the state.

Language changes, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse.

[bananas]

4. Hella good question! It means 10 to the 27th power.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hella

SI prefix

As of 2010, an online petition seeks to establish "hella-" as the SI prefix for 10^27.[12] The prefix, which has since appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Daily Telegraph, and Wired, was implemented by Google in May 2010.[13][14][15] On May 31, 2011, Wolfram Alpha also implemented "hella-" as a supported prefix.[16]

[OffWithTheirHeads]

5. Old people don't say it. We have already been through every speech incarnation

You can imagine. We don't care about your fashion sense because we have already experienced just about every corporate fashion trend foisted upon us. We don't give a shit about your music because, back in the day, it was not all corporate drivil. Nothing you can do on corporate media surprises us. It may annoy us and it seems that the only reason this crap is on the air is to schok and offend but we have already gotton over the bullshit! Try something stimulating like an actual discussion of the issues. That would be different!

[Speck Tater]

6. What's the context?

Do people just walk up to you say "Hella!"?

Is it a greeting, like "hello"? Do they smile when they say it?

Or is it a verb?

Use it in a sentence so those of us who have never heard it can get some idea of what the intent is.

It can't be half as annoying as knights who say.... oh, never mind.

[xxxsdesdexxx]

8. Examples of how I've heard it used

It's "hella" cold.

That's "hella" big.

Damn! That car is "hella" nice.

That car is "hella" bomb.

That's "hella" tight.

The words "bomb" and "tight" are also commonly used.

[Speck Tater]

11. Hmmmm. Sounds like a synonym for "very", or "extremely".

So I checked urban dictionary...

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hella

1. hella 6784 up, 1422 down
Hella. Originated from the streets of San Francisco in the Hunters Point neighborhood. It is commonly used in place of "really" or "very" when describing something.

The Fillmore is hella better than the Mission.

Thank God LA is hella far away.

Plus several others

[xxxsdesdexxx]

7. I have also noticed an increase in the # of white teenagers saying "Fo sure"

Rather than the typical way it's said by some african american teenagers "fo sho".

[demosincebirth]

9. Lived here all of my life and I never noticed it. Never hear the word "Frisco," anymore, either.

[AsahinaKimi]

10. I am so glad for that..

I hella hate "Frisco" ...

[Starry Messenger]

12. I don't hella know.

Why do they call everything "wicked" in Mass?

[flamingdem]

15. They are witches thus wicked y'know n/t

[pinto]

16. LOL. In Mass we could make a pretty good guess where you lived if you called something "wicked".

That and your accent often could come close...a verbal GPS.

[Starry Messenger]

18. I've only heard it in movies. :)

[KamaAina]

17. DING DING DING

"Hella" and "wicked" are as close to exact translations of one another as regional slang can be.

[Mr.Bill]

19. Because they're ten years behind the west coast.

[Mr.Bill]

13. I'm trying to bring back Groovy.

So far all I've accomplished is annoying my grandchildren.