Where does to hell in a handbasket come from?
Where does to hell in a handbasket come from?
The origin is believed to be to heaven in a handbasket, a locution that Dialect Notes spotted in 1913 in Kansas, where it was taken to mean ”to have a sinecure. ” One who was nicely ensconced in an untouchable job was said to be on the way to heaven in a handbasket.
What does went to hell in a handbasket mean?
US, informal. : to become completely ruined He’s convinced that the country is going to hell in a handbasket.
Has gone to hell in a handbasket?
To go to hell in a handbasket means to go to one’s doom, to deteriorate quickly, to proceed on a course to disaster. The phrase go to hell in a handbasket is an American phrase which came into general use during the American Civil War, though its popularity has spread into other countries.
Where does the expression to hell in a handcart come from?
It is from a sermon of 1626 by Thomas Adams, whom I find Robert Southey called ‘the prose Shakespeare of Puritan theologians’. Adams published a ‘massive folio’ of his sermons in 1629, and an augmented collection came out in 1862.
Who said going to hell in a handbasket?
Hell in a Handbasket is a song from Voltaire’s Ooky Spooky album. A number of fictional characters have used a name that puns on the phrase, including: Helena Handbasket is the name of a character in the TV show Friends.
What is a hen basket?
There is a widespread tradition of it being called a hen basket because it was used to carry a broody hen from one croft to another. Another use for the basket in a bigger and heavier version was as a builder’s basket, where stones were winched up structures in them.
Why is everything going to Hell in a Handbasket?
Everything’s going to hell in a handbasket.” The origin of the phrase ‘hell in a handbasket’ can be found in the practice of capturing the heads of guillotine victims in a basket, with the presumption being that these criminals would be going straight to hell for their crimes.
Is Helena Handbasket a real person?
Helena Handbasket is also a fictional nymph in the 2011 video game Rayman Origins. The 2015 video game Fallout 4 includes a “Vault Tec Representative” (Vault Tec is a fictional company in the Fallout franchise) and refers to the phrase “Heck in a handbasket”.
Where does the phrase ‘in a Handbasket’ come from?
The first version of ‘in a handbasket’ in print does in fact relate to an imaginary decapitated head. In Samuel Sewall’s Diary, 1714, we find: “A committee brought in something about Piscataqua. Govr said he would give his head in a Handbasket as soon as he would pass it.”.
What is the origin of the phrase ‘Hell in a handbag’?
Various versions of the phrase have appeared in the title of several published works and other media: “To Hell in a Handbag” is the title of a 2016 comic play by Helen Norton and Jonathan White. “To Hell in a Handbasket” is the name of humorist H. Allen Smith’s 1962 autobiography. Hell in a Handbasket was the title of a 1988 Star Trek comic book.
