Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 12:26:57 -0800 From: Dan Moonhawk Alford Subject: Re: hella hawkin' Legacy quotes are getting difficult to attribute properly now, so -- > > > > > Not entirely sure; it depends on how accurate the > > > transcription is. "Hella-" is an intensive prefix like > > > "mega-," that has been in use at least since the late > > > '80s. I agree about the accuracy; I'll ask my student to say it for me. Re: below, yes -- this is Northern California data, where what is "hella-" here is often "hecka-" in LA. An emergent dialect split along the lines of "101" vs "the 101". > > > I've never heard "hawkin'" before, but I have > > > (rarely) encounted "honkin'" meaning roughly "exciting; > > > jammin', etc." Perhaps these are different realizations > > > of the same word. As in "He was really honkin'" for me, describing a person rather than an event, for instance. Yes, that's certainly a possibility I hadn't thought of. Thanks. > > I'd be interested in knowing where you've heard "hella." As far as I > > can tell it's restricted to Northern California, esp. the Bay Area--does > > that fit your own observations?