DisputedNamed from the place
go to Halifax
verb · first attested 19th century
A polite way to say hell that points at a real town instead.
A mild curse telling someone to clear off, used in place of go to hell.
Record
- Relationship
- Named from the place
- Confidence
- DisputedCompeting explanations remain live.
- Attested
- 19th century
- Part of speech
- verb
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Halifax
- In English
go to Halifax
English beggars once prayed to be delivered from Hull, Hell and Halifax, the Yorkshire town whose gibbet beheaded cloth thieves centuries before the guillotine. American speakers may simply have wanted a word that began like the one they were dodging, and some of them certainly had Halifax in Nova Scotia in mind.
Canada
All 22 entries 21 more words from Canada
LabradorThe dog is named for a northern coast.LabradoralbertosaurThe dinosaur is named for a Canadian province.AlbertaThousand Island dressingThe dressing is named for an archipelago on the St Lawrence.Thousand IslandsAlberta clipperOne weather term, two borrowings: a Canadian province and a racing sailing ship.AlbertaAppalachian dulcimerIt is not a dulcimer: real dulcimers are struck, and this one is plucked.Appalachian MountainsCanada gooseIt is the Canada goose, never the Canadian goose, and many never see Canada.CanadaCanadian baconIn Canada it is just back bacon; the country in the name is an American addition.CanadaLogan breadBaked for an attempt on Canada's highest mountain, then kept by hikers.Mount Logan