Talk:scared as hell
Latest comment: 8 years ago by Metaknowledge in topic RFD discussion: February–April 2016
The following information has failed Wiktionary's deletion process (permalink).
It should not be re-entered without careful consideration.
as hell can be used with more or less any adjective. It's not really a simile in the usual sense, either, since it isn't suggesting that "hell" is something scared (cf. cold as ice, where ice is cold). Equinox ◑ 04:09, 26 February 2016 (UTC)
- Delete, without a doubt. It can be used as an example, though. --Romanophile ♞ (contributions) 12:06, 26 February 2016 (UTC)
- Delete - TheDaveRoss 12:12, 26 February 2016 (UTC)
- Delete. Renard Migrant (talk) 20:01, 26 February 2016 (UTC)
- Delete, transparent SOP. bd2412 T 21:17, 26 February 2016 (UTC)
- All right; it may not be exactly a simile, then. Some comparison for the curious: scared as hell/scared, cold as hell/cold, hot as hell/hot, crazy as hell/crazy at the Google Books Ngram Viewer.. --Dan Polansky (talk) 12:44, 27 February 2016 (UTC)
- In fact, it is a simile, grammatically speaking. The fact that it does not make much sense as a comparison does not detract from this; we do have similes making little sense, and that is what makes it easier to keep them. It is just that "as hell" is so productive that it probably makes more sense to document it only at as hell or, if other editors allow, at the most common combinations. --Dan Polansky (talk) 13:20, 12 March 2016 (UTC)
- It probably started with hot as hell. That's the one that makes sense. Then people started using other adjectives before "as hell", producing "cold as hell", "scared as hell", "nice as hell", "dark as hell" etc.
- In fact, it is a simile, grammatically speaking. The fact that it does not make much sense as a comparison does not detract from this; we do have similes making little sense, and that is what makes it easier to keep them. It is just that "as hell" is so productive that it probably makes more sense to document it only at as hell or, if other editors allow, at the most common combinations. --Dan Polansky (talk) 13:20, 12 March 2016 (UTC)
- Delete per nom. The entry for as hell might benefit from more usage examples, eg, usage with positive and negative valence adjectives, with words not normally associated with hell, with and without preceding as. DCDuring TALK 15:27, 12 March 2016 (UTC)
- RFD failed. —Μετάknowledgediscuss/deeds 21:56, 1 April 2016 (UTC)