 Re: What the hell?
It's not completely bad, but it is frowned upon in polite company. Much ruder is the phrase often abbreviated WTF, which is "What the f..." -- well, you can probably guess if you know a lot of English slang.
Less rude phrases following the pattern can include:
What the heck...? (another word for "hell")
What the devil...?
What the dickens...?
(The last two cannot be used to mean "I don't care".)
(One British TV show contained a joke in that it portrayed Charles Dickens saying: "What the Shakespeare is going on in there?" In reality, though, "dickens" has nothing to do with Charles Dickens, but refers to the devil.)
These phrases can also be used on their own to express great surprise or annoyance. In internet forums you'll often just see the abbreviation "WTF?" In speech, when indicating surprise, some speakers just say, "What the...?" without completing the phrase.
It's best, though, not to use these phrases when speaking to your teacher. "What the dickens?" isn't considered very rude, but many speakers do regard it as inappropriate in polite company. |