It's cold today, has been cold for several days. No melting of snow. It's just sitting out there in piles, all white and icy.
How cold is it? Well, my mother might say it's "colder than Billy Heck." I heard her say it many times.
Just today I wondered where that came from, so I did a small bit of research. On the internet, of course. You can find anything on the internet, you know.
Turns out there have been and probably still are people named Billy Heck or Billie Heck, but there is no such saying as the one my mother used. The actual saying is colder than Billy hell. I don't know why the Billy was stuck in front of hell. And it seems to me that we know how cold hell is. It isn't. It's hot.
Anyway, I also know why my mother said Billy Heck instead of Billy hell. She didn't swear. To use the word hell in that way would be swearing. So she changed it.
At least, that's what I figure.
4 comments:
My mother used to say "It's colder than Billy Heck", too! She was from Tennessee.
Interesting. I always assumed Billy Hell was short for Hillbilly Hell. Being a hillbilly myself, I always figured if we had a hell, it'd be cold, because we were to poor to keep it warm.
My mom too. She would say that & she was from Tennessee too
My mom too. She would say that & she was from Tennessee too
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