just for the halibut

[nin_elle]

Good whatever time of day it is where you are,
I have already seen a lot of times such an idiom as "just for the halibut". But, to my regret, I can't find out its meaning. Help me , plz

[lauralie2]

I'm not certain, but I think 'halibut' is a euphemism for 'hell of it' in 'Just for the hell of it":

Also, for the heck of it; just for the hell of it. For no particular reason; on a whim. For example, We drove by the old place just for the hell of it. In the first variant, heck is a euphemism for hell. [First half of 1900s] Also see for fun, def. 2.


The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2010, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

[Ouisch]

Yes, "just for the halibut" is occasionally used as a humorous euphemism for "just for the hell of it," mainly because it almost rhymes. But what makes it amusing (as opposed to similar euphemisms, like "for the heck of it") is that a halibut is a type of fish, and quite often the person who says "just for the halibut" will follow up the statement with an assortment of really bad fish puns that also sound very close to other words. For example:

For example, "I stopped by Joe's Bar for a quick drink, just for the halibut. I had to repeat my order three times because Joe is hard of herring. I didn't stay long because all the noise was giving me a haddock."

[Tdol]

Do they round this off with having a whale of a time?

[lauralie2]

Do they round this off with having a whale of a time?

It all sounds fishy to me.

[Ouisch]

Tdol and Lauralie are making fish puns on porpoise!!