Old Man Word 95: Sam Hill

Old people truly despise this guy Sam Hill.  Of course — in typical old man fashion — they have no basis for their ire.  Some folk think he was a guy who ran for office in the 1700’s (a durned politician!)  Another Sam Hill was an advocate for “good roads.”  (Some kinda do-gooder!)  Nobody actually knows.  But facts have never stopped the elderly from getting angry and poor Sam Hill is no exception.   Whoever he was the consensus is clear:

He was the devil.

That’s right, “Sam Hill” is old man for the devil or hell.   The most common context of the Sam Hill derision is the phrase “what in Sam Hill” which basically means “what the hell?”  Some of the brassier old timers will sass things up with the occasional “where in Sam Hill” which roughly translates to “where the hell?”  Of course even among the elderly you have your fringe incontinents who take it too far and thus you end up with the altogether cheeky “who in Sam Hill?”  You can recognize this gauche lot by their efforts to squire old widows and their insistence on adding salt to their mashed potatoes.

Why old-timers gotta confuse things by saying “Sam Hill” may seem a mystery but probably stems from their annoying habit of obfuscating everything.  Old people suffered far too many cuffs on the ears to say cusses like “hell” so they gussy it up with prattle like “Sam Hill.”   It’s irritating but that’s par for the course.

On to the definition:

Sam Hill. n.

1. Euphemism for hell or the devil; used to add emphasis to expressions of outrage, e.g., “what in Sam Hill?”
   
2. Way for old people to pretend they aren’t swearing.
   

One final note: Don’t go off sliding “Sam Hill” into every sentence where you’d normally say hell.  Even an old man will think you’re a durned fool if you say something like “give em’ Sam Hill” or try to polite up AC/DC’s classic tune by calling it “Sam Hill’s Bells.”  Just stick with the stock phrases and try not to heap more scorn on poor old Sam Hill.

*****

Short post today, sorry.  It’s my birthday and I decided to spend it watching a documentary on “Le Cirque.”  An exceptionally weak documentary in case you care.