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"Hella" started in parts of the Bay Area and spread, but it's still more a NorCal thing than Southern California and it's popular in certain regions over others. When I was a kid in Santa Cruz in the late 90s, firmly in Northern California or the Central Coast, saying "hella" was a good way to be identified as not from Santa Cruz--you'd get made fun of and occasionally get your ass kicked. "Hella" was something people from "Over-the-Hill" or "the Valley" said. My cousins from the Sacramento Valley would always overuse "hella" on the other hand.
When I went to college in Oregon, I thought it funny that all the kids from Idaho and some from Washington and Oregon were saying "hella"...
One of my best friends is from Orange County and the word "hella" annoys her like I've never seen anything else annoy her. Seriously, she goes mad when she hears it. It totally is a Northern CA thing.
Location: The Circle City. Sometimes NE of Bagdad.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jm31828
I spent 12 years in Nebraska, never heard anyone say warsh or ruff, and rarely heard crick. And nasal sounding? Not really. Seriously, I have lived in both areas and they really do speak and sound about the same.
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If you hear a west coaster saying warsh, theres a pretty good chance they came from OH. I still say warsh after being in CA 60+ years.
I spent 12 years in Nebraska, never heard anyone say warsh or ruff, and rarely heard crick. And nasal sounding? Not really. Seriously, I have lived in both areas and they really do speak and sound about the same.
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In comparison to what I'm used to hearing in So Cal. Those accents are sort of nasal sounding compared to the flatter voices I typically hear out here. Theres a ton of Nebraskans who settled in So Cal. And I can tell their accents from the younger generations here easily. One of the former mayors of LA was born in Nebraska, and he had a nasally type accent. His pronunciation of Los Angeles was hilarious.
Location: Baghdad by the Bay (San Francisco, California)
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Originally Posted by JerseyGirl415
One of my best friends is from Orange County and the word "hella" annoys her like I've never seen anything else annoy her. Seriously, she goes mad when she hears it. It totally is a Northern CA thing.
...and East Bay, at that. You won't hear "hella" in San Francisco much, if at all. I heard it quite a bit across the bridge, though.
...and then, not really in The City. East Bay is "hella" country.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dalparadise
...and East Bay, at that. You won't hear "hella" in San Francisco much, if at all. I heard it quite a bit across the bridge, though.
You couldn't be more wrong. I'll tell you who doesn't say it as much: older people and transplants (i find it eventually invades many transplants' vocabulary to some degree though ). But natives, especially those in the middle class and lower classes say it all the time. Non stop. And in SF they say it as much as anywhere else in the Bay Area or Nor Cal. Hella people in SF say it hella times in any given day. That's hella times over hella days, thus hella use of the word hella. It's a hella versatile word, and you're hella wrong. No one knows where exactly the word originated, but some will claim that it even came from SF originally (while others will claim Oakland, etc, etc). You're a relatively recent SF transplant aren't you? I mean damn, even my 1970s era SF transplant, middle-class, 60 year-old mother says it from time to time. Most people I knew growing up in SF said "hella", and most non-old people I know now who are from SF say "hella".
Location: Baghdad by the Bay (San Francisco, California)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rah
You couldn't be more wrong. I'll tell you who doesn't say it as much: older people and transplants (i find it eventually invades many transplants' vocabulary to some degree though ). But natives, especially those in the middle class and lower classes say it all the time. Non stop. And in SF they say it as much as anywhere else in the Bay Area or Nor Cal. Hella people in SF say it hella times in any given day. That's hella times over hella days, thus hella use of the word hella. It's a hella versatile word, and you're hella wrong. No one knows where exactly the word originated, but some will claim that it even came from SF originally (while others will claim Oakland, etc, etc). You're a relatively recent SF transplant aren't you? I mean damn, even my 1970s era SF transplant, middle-class, 60 year-old mother says it from time to time. Most people I knew growing up in SF said "hella", and most non-old people I know now who are from SF say "hella".
I just know that I don't hear it in my daily life in San Francisco, and I did hear it often living in the East Bay.
Your assessment that transplants don't use it could be reflected in the realization that San Francisco of 2013, particularly the northeastern quarter of the City where I live and work, is made up of largely transplants and professionals, which may account for my lack of exposure to the term. I confess I'm not as well acquainted with the customs out in the Avenues or down in Visitacion Valley, etc.
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). But natives, especially those in the middle class and lower classes say it all the time. Non stop. And in SF they say it as much as anywhere else in the Bay Area or Nor Cal. Hella people in SF say it hella times in any given day. That's hella times over hella days, thus hella use of the word hella. It's a hella versatile word, and you're hella wrong. No one knows where exactly the word originated, but some will claim that it even came from SF originally (while others will claim Oakland, etc, etc). You're a relatively recent SF transplant aren't you? I mean damn, even my 1970s era SF transplant, middle-class, 60 year-old mother says it from time to time. Most people I knew growing up in SF said "hella", and most non-old people I know now who are from SF say "hella".
