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What does Hell Bent for leather mean?
Where did Hell Bent for leather come from?
What does hell bent mean?
What is the difference between Hell for leather and Hell-Bent for leather?
Hell-bent for leather, or simply hell for leather, is an idiom that hints at acting recklessly or quickly to achieve a goal. The term “hell-bent” has been around since the 16th century. The addition of “for leather” is a more recent update, but it’s not strictly necessary.
- English Teacher
The use of hell-bent in the sense of “recklessly determined” dates from the first half of the 1800s. Leather alludes to a horse's saddle and to riding on horseback; this colloquial expression may be an American version of the earlier British army jargon hell for leather , first recorded in 1889.
Mar 18, 2013 · Cornelius, North Carolina. “Hell bent for leather” is a term that refers to the act of embarking impulsively with little regard for the consequences. It’s believed to be a mash-up of two popular 19th-century terms: “Hell bent,” which indicated fierce determination for some reckless cause, and “Hell for leather,” which refers to ...
Aug 4, 2023 · What's the origin of Hell Bent for Leather? Although it is not known when exactly the expression “Hell bent for leather” was formed, it comes from a similar colloquialism, originating from the British Army: “Hell for Leather”, which first appeared in the early 1860’s.
“Hell for leather” meaning “all deliberate haste” was a popular phrase in itself. Among a number of variants is “hell-bent for election,” said to have originated with the 1840 Maine gubernatorial race and appearing in an 1899 Stephen Crane story: “One puncher racin' his cow-pony hell-bent-for-election down Main Street.”
Jun 7, 2023 · 7 June 2023. Hell bent features in a number of slang phrases. To be hell bent is to be doggedly determined, and to ride or go hell for leather or hell bent for leather (or election) is to travel fast and recklessly. The etiology of hell bent is straightforward enough, a metaphor for being on a path that will end up in the bad place, but the ...
Dec 14, 2022 · Etymology [ edit] Apparently a blend of hell-bent + hell-for-leather, though sometimes said to have been initially applied to animals which behaved poorly as if they were bent on being turned into leather. Adverb [ edit] hell-bent for leather (not comparable) (Behaving) determinedly recklessly, in a manner that lacks restraint .
