Sam Hill

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hell (used especially in WH-questions as a mild oath expressing exasperation and usually preceded by in or the): Who in Sam Hill are you?

QUIZZES

Apostrophes can be tricky; prove you know the difference between it’s and its in this crafty quiz!

Question 1 of 12

On the farm, the feed for chicks is significantly different from the roosters’; ______ not even comparable.

1830–40, Americanism;Sam (originally salmon, variant of Sal(o)mon an oath) + hill, euphemism for hell

Cruce operates the Iron Hill Campground on the other side of the highway.
The 7-Year-Old Plane Crash Survivor’s Brutal Journey Through the Woods|James Higdon|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The procession continued on to the Cypress Hill Cemetery, where Ramos was buried the week before.
Funeral Protest Is Too Much for NYPD Union Boss|Michael Daly|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The End of Gangs By Sam Quinones, Pacific-Standard Los Angeles gave America the modern street gang.
The Daily Beast’s Best Longreads, Dec 29-Jan 4, 2014|William Boot|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Johnson knew that the proposals he was going to send to the Hill would be divisive.
Thank Congress, Not LBJ for Great Society|Julian Zelizer, Scott Porch|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST

On his eighth try, more than three decades after he went in, the parole board finally voted to release Sam.
His First Day Out Of Jail After 40 Years: Adjusting To Life Outside|Justin Rohrlich|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
As long as may be necessary, Sam,” replied Mr. Pickwick, “you have my full permission to remain.
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, v. 2(of 2)|Charles Dickens
There is an odd triangular-shaped hill that rises on one side very boldly and abruptly, called the Fox's Head.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
Sam sat opposite him in perfect silence, waiting, with eager curiosity, for the termination of the scene.
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, v. 2(of 2)|Charles Dickens
It was all breeze and freshness, and the sunlight struck picturesquely aslant the hill-sides.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
At last he came to quite a hill, on the summit of which grew a tree with branches close to the ground.
The Courier of the Ozarks|Byron A. Dunn