A Huntsville, Alabama, man finds that his younger co-workers have never heard the phrase going to hell in a handbasket. Although the expression is at least as old as the U.S. Civil War, its etymology remains unclear. In the early 1960s, the humorist H. Allen Smith helped popularize the phrase with his book To Hell in a Handbasket, a dubious title for an autobiography. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “To Hell in a Handbasket”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Yes. Hi, this is Phil Chandler. I’m from Huntsville, Alabama.
Hi, Phil. Welcome to the show.
Hey, Phil.
How can we help?
Well, I’ve heard this phrase all my life. I’ve heard it mainly from my parents and family members. It’s to hell in a handbasket.
And I use that phrase all the time, but when I use it at work, like projects gone to hell in a handbasket, all of my team, they’ll start laughing at me and they’ll say, I’ve never heard that before.
So I don’t know if it’s maybe not that common these days, but I see it online as well. But, you know, I’ve always used it all my life and just wondered where it came from.
Phil, can I ask what kind of work you do?
I’m in finance and working with projects and so forth.
Okay.
Yeah.
And so when…
No, I’m not in politics.
Okay.
All right.
But still in finance, if something goes to hell in a handbasket, that’s not a good thing, huh?
It is well and truly gone to hell then, hasn’t it?
Exactly.
And you’re saying your younger colleagues don’t know what that means.
Well, did you say younger? Or you just said your other colleagues?
Yeah.
Most of my younger colleagues, they’ve never heard it. People around my age, and I’ll just say I’m over 50, I have an AARP card.
Congratulations.
Yeah, but most people in my age group, they’ve heard it before or used it. But when I use it at work, and I’m the king of colloquial euphemisms, but they’ve never heard it.
Is that right? That’s interesting.
They must live bland and boring lives if they don’t have that kind of color around them.
Or maybe their lives are great and nothing goes down a hand. They’ve had no need for the phrase. Good for them.
Phil, I can’t tell you how many times we’ve gotten emails and phone calls from people who say the English language is going to hell in a handbasket.
Yeah, so in our world, hell in a handbasket is really common. It’s like the go-to phrase when people want to say, kids, today the language is just being ruined.
Well, it’s good to know I’m not the only one that uses it.
Oh, no, not at all.
Not at all, not at all.
In fact, this phrase has been around since at least the Civil War.
Mm-yeah.
Okay.
Yeah, and we’re not really sure about the origin of it.
Why handbasket?
Yeah, why handbasket?
I mean, some people have suggested that maybe it’s because a handbasket is something light that you can carry easily, you know, and you’re going to get to hell really quickly.
Right.
You’re imagining like Little Red Riding Hood with a handbasket just kind of skipping gately along towards the mouth of the wolf, right? Towards the mouth of the gates of hell.
But you’re in that basket, and she’s like, la, la, la, just like swinging the basket with no care in the world.
Right.
Right, right.
Yeah, I’ve done a little research of mine, and it said that it could possibly come from old English terms or phrases where, you know, you have the guillotine. And this may be a Hollywood deal where it’s derived really from Hollywood.
But, you know, where the king or queen is in the guillotine and it comes down, their head goes into the basket.
Into the basket.
And that person theoretically is going to hell.
Yeah.
There’s a giant gap, though, between the era of the guillotine and the American Civil War. And also it is an American expression, not from the continental Europe.
Yeah, so you’re right to be skeptical of that.
It was really popularized, too, in the early 1960s by the humorist H. Allen Smith. He wrote a lot of books. He was really, really popular, especially in the 40s, 50s, and early 60s.
He was an American humorist who wrote things like Life in a Putty Knife Factory. And his autobiography in 1962 was called To Hell in a Hand Basket, which I think is a great name for an autobiography, right?
Exactly.
So, Phil, does that help?
Yeah, it does help. I’m glad that I’m not the only one that uses it.
Not at all.
It isn’t a phrase that’s dying out because I think it’s kind of comical.
Well, thank you both very much.
Take care, Phil.
I appreciate it.
Okay, take care.
You too.
Bye-bye.
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