Etymology Journal ยท W
What the Sam Hill?
Meaning
- An old-fashioned, folksy expression of intense bewilderment or frustration. It is a classic 'cowboy-style' exclamation that sounds harmless but emphatic.
Vintage, colorful
Used in a sentence
- What the Sam Hill is that contraption in the yard?
- I looked at the bill and almost fainted. What the Sam Hill?
- What the Sam Hill are you doing in my shed?
The backstory
The phrase is an old euphemism for 'what the hell.' It is believed to have originated in the American West, though the specific 'Sam Hill' remains a mysterious folk figure.
Heard in
The South, The Midwest
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