Where does the phrase going to hell in a handcart come from?
One theory on the origin of the phrase is that derives from the use of handbaskets in the guillotining method of capital punishment. If Hollywood films are to be believed, the decapitated heads were caught in baskets – the casualty presumably going straight to hell, without passing Go.
What does the world is going to hell in a handbasket mean?
to go to one’s doom
To go to hell in a handbasket means to go to one’s doom, to deteriorate quickly, to proceed on a course to disaster. The origin of the term go to hell in a handbasket is unknown, the assumption is that the word handbasket is a good source of alliteration.
What is a handbasket meaning?
: a small portable basket —usually used in the phrase to hell in a handbasket denoting rapid and utter ruination.
Is go to hell an idiom?
1. rude slang An expression of angry dismissal or contempt.
Where did what the hell come from?
The earliest use in print recorded by editors of the Oxford English Dictionary comes from the 1920s. From a story handed down in my family (U.S.), I know the phrase was used in the late 19th century, if not earlier. It might have come from “what IN hell…,” similar to “what on earth….” That’s speculation, though.
What is the saying in like Flynn?
“In like Flynn” is a slang phrase meaning “having quickly or easily achieved a goal or gained access as desired”.
What does I was told there would be a handbasket?
rapidly deteriorating or that you are set firmly on a course for disaster. Example of use: “How’s work going?” Answer: “Horrible. Everything’s going to hell in a handbasket.”
Is go to hell a bad word?
The phrase “A go-to-hell attitude” is not swearing. “Go to hell!” is. Indeed. Otherwise such words as “hell” and “damnation” would not appear in the Bible.
When you say go to hell?
If you tell someone to go to hell, you are angrily telling them to go away and leave you alone.