Sam Hill (euphemism)
Encyclopedia
Sam Hill is an American English
slang
phrase, a euphemism
or minced oath
for "the devil
" or "hell
" personified (as in, "What in the Sam Hill is that?"). Etymologist
Michael Quinion
and others date the expression back to the late 1830s; they and others consider the expression to have been a simple bowdlerization
, with, according to the Oxford English Dictionary
, an unknown origin.
The most likely, and accurate, source for "what in the Sam Hill is that?" comes from Prescott, Arizona. Sam Hill was a mercantile store and with the vast and diverse inventory of goods he sold people began using the term "what in the Sam Hill is that?" to describe something they found odd or unusual, just like the inventory found in Sam Hill's store. The original Sam Hill Mercantile building still stands on Montezuma Street in Prescott, AZ and is listed on the register of Historic Places.
The following are possibilities of the term's origin as well, however, the documentable existence of the mercantile and registry should indicate the original source of the euphemism.
For example, according to Quinion:
The millionaire Samuel Hill
, a businessman and "good roads" advocate in the Pacific Northwest
, became associated with the phrase in the 1920s, a reference that made it into Time
magazine when he convinced Queen Marie of Romania
to travel to rural Washington to dedicate Hill's Maryhill Museum of Art
. The fact that "Father of Good Roads" Samuel Hill hadn't been born when the figure of speech first appeared in a publication rules out the possibility that he was the original Sam Hill in question.
However, this Hill family of Seattle are not the only ones referenced in this way; other published usages include "go like Sam Hill" or "run like Sam Hill" - in reference to Colonel Samuel Hill of Guilford, Connecticut
who perpetually ran for office in the late 19th Century. However, he was apparently so unsuccessful that except for a brief mention in the Encyclopedia of American Politics, 1946 edition, there is scarce evidence that he existed.
H. L. Mencken
suggested that the "Sam" in the phrase derives from Samiel
, the name of the Devil
in Der Freischütz
, an opera by Carl Maria von Weber
that was performed in New York
in 1825.
A possible origin for the phrase "Sam Hill" is the surveyor Samuel W. Hill (1819-1889). He allegedly used such foul language that his name became a euphemism for swear words. In the words of Charles Eschbach "Back in the 1850s the Keweenaw’s copper mining boom was underway. There were about a dozen men who pretty much ran the Keweenaw. They were mining company agents, the “go between” for the investors from Boston and the actual mining production people. Their names were attached to every report sent back to eastern investors. Among these company agents was a man named Samuel W. Hill. Sam was a geologist, surveyor, and mining engineer and had considerable power in the Keweenaw.
According to Courter, Samuel Hill "was an adventurer, explorer, miner, and surveyor. He had worked with Douglas and Houghton on the early State survey. His judgment was respected. Although he was a rough character, he possessed a big heart and in the fall of 1847 had risked his life to help avert a threatened food shortage in the Copper Harbor district. Generally he was regarded as a hero throughout the entire Copper Country, however, he was contemptuous of all the praise that was heaped upon him. Hill also gained a reputation as being one of the most blasphemous and obscene swearers in the Keweenaw Peninsula. Although he had a colorful vocabulary and told many a good story of his early adventures, his ubiquitous use of lurid cuss words became legendary. Whenever friends or neighbors retold his colorful tales in more polite society, they had to tame his unmentionables by substituting the sinless sounding words "Sam Hill.” In time the expression, "What the Sam Hill" spread far beyond the Copper Country. Today it has become a part of the American language. Few who utter these words ever heard of Samuel Hill, or know that he was the unconscious originator of a sinless synonym for profanity.
Another possibility for the origin of this expression is from the Swedish word for "community" which is "samhället".
American English
American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....
slang
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
phrase, a euphemism
Euphemism
A euphemism is the substitution of a mild, inoffensive, relatively uncontroversial phrase for another more frank expression that might offend or otherwise suggest something unpleasant to the audience...
or minced oath
Minced oath
A minced oath is an expression based on a profanity or a taboo term that has been altered to reduce the objectionable characteristics.Many languages have such expressions...
for "the devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
" or "hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
" personified (as in, "What in the Sam Hill is that?"). Etymologist
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
Michael Quinion
Michael Quinion
Michael Quinion is a British etymologist and writer. He runs the web site World Wide Words, devoted to linguistics. He graduated from Cambridge University, where he studied physical sciences after which he joined BBC radio as a studio manager.-Writer:...
and others date the expression back to the late 1830s; they and others consider the expression to have been a simple bowdlerization
Thomas Bowdler
Thomas Bowdler was an English physician who published an expurgated edition of William Shakespeare's work, edited by his sister Harriet, intended to be more appropriate for 19th century women and children than the original....
, with, according to the Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...
, an unknown origin.
Possible referents
Candidate referents for the use date back to at least the 19th century.The most likely, and accurate, source for "what in the Sam Hill is that?" comes from Prescott, Arizona. Sam Hill was a mercantile store and with the vast and diverse inventory of goods he sold people began using the term "what in the Sam Hill is that?" to describe something they found odd or unusual, just like the inventory found in Sam Hill's store. The original Sam Hill Mercantile building still stands on Montezuma Street in Prescott, AZ and is listed on the register of Historic Places.
The following are possibilities of the term's origin as well, however, the documentable existence of the mercantile and registry should indicate the original source of the euphemism.
For example, according to Quinion:
- an article in the New England Magazine in December 1889 entitled "Two Centuries and a Half in Guilford, ConnecticutGuilford, ConnecticutGuilford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, that borders Madison, Branford, North Branford and Durham, and is situated on I-95 and the coast. The population was 21,398 at the 2000 census...
" mentioned that, “Between 1727 and 1752 Mr. Sam. Hill represented Guilford in forty-three out of forty-nine sessions of the Legislature, and when he was gathered to his fathers, his son Nathaniel reigned in his stead” and a footnote queried whether this might be the source of the "popular Connecticut adjurationOathAn oath is either a statement of fact or a promise calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually God, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact. To swear is to take an oath, to make a solemn vow...
to ‘Give ‘em Sam Hill’?"
The millionaire Samuel Hill
Samuel Hill
Samuel Hill , usually known as Sam Hill, was a businessman, lawyer, railroad executive and advocate of good roads in the Pacific Northwest...
, a businessman and "good roads" advocate in the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
, became associated with the phrase in the 1920s, a reference that made it into Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine when he convinced Queen Marie of Romania
Marie of Edinburgh
Marie of Romania was Queen consort of Romania from 1914 to 1927, as the wife of Ferdinand I of Romania.-Early life:...
to travel to rural Washington to dedicate Hill's Maryhill Museum of Art
Maryhill Museum of Art
The Maryhill Museum of Art is a small museum with an eclectic collection, located near Maryhill in the U.S. state of Washington.The structure was built as a mansion by entrepreneur Samuel Hill...
. The fact that "Father of Good Roads" Samuel Hill hadn't been born when the figure of speech first appeared in a publication rules out the possibility that he was the original Sam Hill in question.
However, this Hill family of Seattle are not the only ones referenced in this way; other published usages include "go like Sam Hill" or "run like Sam Hill" - in reference to Colonel Samuel Hill of Guilford, Connecticut
Guilford, Connecticut
Guilford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, that borders Madison, Branford, North Branford and Durham, and is situated on I-95 and the coast. The population was 21,398 at the 2000 census...
who perpetually ran for office in the late 19th Century. However, he was apparently so unsuccessful that except for a brief mention in the Encyclopedia of American Politics, 1946 edition, there is scarce evidence that he existed.
H. L. Mencken
H. L. Mencken
Henry Louis "H. L." Mencken was an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, acerbic critic of American life and culture, and a scholar of American English. Known as the "Sage of Baltimore", he is regarded as one of the most influential American writers and prose stylists of the...
suggested that the "Sam" in the phrase derives from Samiel
Samael
Samael is an important archangel in Talmudic and post-Talmudic lore, a figure who is accuser, seducer and destroyer, and has been regarded as both good and evil...
, the name of the Devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
in Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin...
, an opera by Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
that was performed in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1825.
A possible origin for the phrase "Sam Hill" is the surveyor Samuel W. Hill (1819-1889). He allegedly used such foul language that his name became a euphemism for swear words. In the words of Charles Eschbach "Back in the 1850s the Keweenaw’s copper mining boom was underway. There were about a dozen men who pretty much ran the Keweenaw. They were mining company agents, the “go between” for the investors from Boston and the actual mining production people. Their names were attached to every report sent back to eastern investors. Among these company agents was a man named Samuel W. Hill. Sam was a geologist, surveyor, and mining engineer and had considerable power in the Keweenaw.
According to Courter, Samuel Hill "was an adventurer, explorer, miner, and surveyor. He had worked with Douglas and Houghton on the early State survey. His judgment was respected. Although he was a rough character, he possessed a big heart and in the fall of 1847 had risked his life to help avert a threatened food shortage in the Copper Harbor district. Generally he was regarded as a hero throughout the entire Copper Country, however, he was contemptuous of all the praise that was heaped upon him. Hill also gained a reputation as being one of the most blasphemous and obscene swearers in the Keweenaw Peninsula. Although he had a colorful vocabulary and told many a good story of his early adventures, his ubiquitous use of lurid cuss words became legendary. Whenever friends or neighbors retold his colorful tales in more polite society, they had to tame his unmentionables by substituting the sinless sounding words "Sam Hill.” In time the expression, "What the Sam Hill" spread far beyond the Copper Country. Today it has become a part of the American language. Few who utter these words ever heard of Samuel Hill, or know that he was the unconscious originator of a sinless synonym for profanity.
Another possibility for the origin of this expression is from the Swedish word for "community" which is "samhället".