Style: Hell of a OR helluva?

[SoSueMe]

Which is it?

 

[Montezuma's Revenge]

The first one.

 

[slappy4428]

helluva... I feel its one of the few times NOT to fix a quote.
Did the person say "Hell of a" or "helluva"

 

[zeke12]

Whichever they said.

If the coach said that little Johnny made a "helluva running catch" that's what I'd write.

 

[Moderator1]

Hate helluva. Hate it.

 

[Charlie Brown]

Helluva is not a word. If you guys can hear a difference between "helluva" and "hell of a" you have different hearing skills than I do. Just because a person says it fast doesn't make it a word. Would you write "waytogo" instead of "way to go"? Same thing, in my opinion. I wince when I see helluva. It's got to be a made-up word from the 1960s that "scribes" fell in love with and keep using, even though they shouldn't.

 

[SoSueMe]

I always lean toward "hell of a" but I see helluva so often, I had to ask.

 

[SF_Express]

This is a ****ty answer, but I actually kind of just go by the tone of the story and what fits better in the quote for me.

 

[statrat]

Hell of a...or in my paper "H*** of a."

 

[Sandoval]

Neither

 

[Mystery_Meat]

You're all going to hell for cussing.

Oops, so am I.

Dammit (at this point it's a lost cause anyway).

 

[Ace]

Hate helluva. Hate it.

Ditto. Ditto.

 

[Your Huckleberry]

Helluva is NOT a word. To be grammatically correct, use "Hell of a" and never the other. Occassionally I edit other writers' copy and when I see this word, I immediatly change it. It's not a word. You can't find it in a dictionary. If you print it, you are putting errors in your paper on purpose. You may want to use it because it looks or sounds "cool" but it's not a part of the English language. Do not ever, in any case, use "helluva."

 

[Sweetness]

I'm with SF. I use helluva (sparingly) if it fits the tone of the story and the person who said it. Same with "I dunno" instead of "I don't know."

If used right, I think it communicates something different to the reader about the subject's personality or the tone of the moment.

 

[MilanWall]

If any of the coaches around here used that word, all the local churches would be instantly calling for him to be fired.

 

[TyWebb]

I think it a straight gamer or sports news story - it has to be "hell of a"

In a column or something less formal, you can get away with "helluva," but I would still avoid it.

 

[SCEditor]

Helluva is not a word. If you guys can hear a difference between "helluva" and "hell of a" you have different hearing skills than I do. Just because a person says it fast doesn't make it a word. Would you write "waytogo" instead of "way to go"? Same thing, in my opinion. I wince when I see helluva. It's got to be a made-up word from the 1960s that "scribes" fell in love with and keep using, even though they shouldn't.

I used to be of the "helluva" school, until somebody said almost the exact same thing to me one time. It's been "hell of a" ever since.

 

[Oggiedoggie]

Heckuva

 

[kbb]

I agree 100 percent with Charlie Brown. (Good grief!)

 

[Your Huckleberry]

Helluva is not a word. If you guys can hear a difference between "helluva" and "hell of a" you have different hearing skills than I do. Just because a person says it fast doesn't make it a word. Would you write "waytogo" instead of "way to go"? Same thing, in my opinion. I wince when I see helluva. It's got to be a made-up word from the 1960s that "scribes" fell in love with and keep using, even though they shouldn't.

I used to be of the "helluva" school, until somebody said almost the exact same thing to me one time. It's been "hell of a" ever since.

Thanks for agreeing. And, so you know, I once thought the word was "trendy" or "cool" to use to although I tried to use it only once. That's when an editor stepped in and said "It's not a word and until it is recognized as a word in the English language, we aren't recognizing it either."

I must admit, I had to fully agree with his opinion and have never used it since and always edited it out when others have tried to use it but because I'm not an editor it still slips into our section when a particular copy editor of ours lets it slide by.