hell's bells

English

WOTD – 31 October 2021

Etymology

From hell +‎ -’s +‎ bells,^[1] possibly an elaboration of hell (used to express anger, discontent, or unhappiness) with bells chosen to rhyme with hell’s.

The noun sense (Datura stramonium) may allude to the often spiny seed capsules of the poisonous plant which somewhat resemble bells when they mature and split open; compare devil's cucumber, devil's snare, devil's trumpet, and devil's weed which are other common names for the plant.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˌhɛlz ˈbɛlz/
Audio (Southern England): (file)

Interjection

hell 's bells

(mildly vulgar) An expression of frustration, outrage, or surprise. [from mid 19th c.]
(expression of frustration): Synonyms: see Thesaurus:dammit

(expression of surprise): Synonyms: hell's teeth; see also Thesaurus:wow
- 1920, Sinclair Lewis, chapter XXIX, in Main Street: The Story of Carol Kennicott, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Howe, →OCLC, section V, page 352:
  What's the matter with his talking so polite? Hell's bells, Harry, no harm in being polite. There's some regular he-men that are just as polite as women, prett' near.
- 1932, Edgar Wallace, Merian C[aldwell] Cooper, novelization by Delos W[heeler] Lovelace, chapter 1, in King Kong, trade softcover edition, Nevada City, Calif.: Underwood Books, published 2005, →ISBN, page 6:
  "You've never had a woman in any of your other pictures. Why do you want one for this?" / "Hell's Bells! You don't think I'm consulting my own preference, I hope."
- 2007, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men (motion picture), spoken by Wendell (Garret Dillahunt):
  Hell's bells, they even shot the dog.