ProbableNamed from the place
hell and half of Georgia
noun · first attested 20th century
An American measure of distance that takes in most of the afterlife.
A vast scattered area, almost always in the phrase all over hell and half of Georgia.
Record
- Relationship
- Named from the place
- Confidence
- ProbableThe conventional story is likely, with caveats.
- Attested
- 20th century
- Part of speech
- noun
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Georgia
- In English
hell and half of Georgia
The expression is Southern in flavor and appears in print through the twentieth century, always as comic exaggeration of how far something is spread. Its origin is unrecorded, and the tempting link to Sherman's march through Georgia is guesswork.
Also pinned to Georgia
1 more from the same place
Georgia
All 2 entries