Semper Ubi Sub Ubi
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Mike Smith:
October 26th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
I wonder if perhaps the “bent” in hell bent for leather refers to the verb “bend” that is still used to in nautical circles to mean putting on more sails and thus increasing the speed of the vessel. To be perfectly precise, one “bends on” a sail, as in, “The wind slackened, so we bent on the Number 1 genoa to make better speed in the light air.”
I’m a sailor and wannabe etymologist – especially when phrases involve nautical references.
Love the site.
Jim G:
January 1st, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Is it possible that the ‘leather’ refers to the end of the horse itself (alternatively, ‘hell bent for glue”?
Murat M.:
February 7th, 2010 at 10:21 am
The phrase makes perfect sense in the lyrics of the theme song for the classical TV show Rawhide. However, one wonders if the Judas Preist song with the same name (Hell Bent For Leather) is only making reference to other songs and narratives while placing motorcycles where horses should be, or if the phrase is/was already common with riders of “Harley Davidson”s as well.
anders bredahl:
February 16th, 2010 at 10:02 am
I believe this phrase sounds as though it originated from a race. Perhaps describing one so determined to win leather that they would ride in any manner neccesary to win.
Then eventually becoming accepted to be able to describe anyone determined enough to be reckless.
Rags:
August 17th, 2010 at 12:35 am
Whether we’re talking about the saddle, the crop or the poor horse’s backside, riding fast must be hell for the leather, right? ;-)
Susan Thompson:
August 25th, 2010 at 11:44 am
Could it have anything to do with making the saddles themselves? The warming and stretching of the leather to the saddle?? Or possibly they had the same strange fetishes as ‘The Pony Club’ people who dress up as ponies and riders and enjoy some ‘free time’….!!
Shane G.:
September 1st, 2010 at 11:39 pm
It all sounds pretty good but I think I like it coming from the bottle cap of a Big Sky brew!!
John:
October 19th, 2010 at 9:18 pm
I think it has something to do with pulling a gun. Like “Slap leather”.
hacksawz:
November 4th, 2010 at 12:17 pm
In the ’40s and ’50s, it meant going at or to something fast and furious regardless of the consequences. I haven’t heard it used recently.
Clubber Lang:
November 18th, 2010 at 11:40 am
LOL, love Knights answer
Judy Olsen:
March 7th, 2011 at 8:32 am
‘Leather’ was slang for c*nt.
Southland - Page 26 - MassCops:
March 22nd, 2011 at 8:41 pm
[...] Hell bent for leather « The Word Detective [...]
George Starks:
April 2nd, 2011 at 8:56 am
As a kid who cut his teeth on classic movie westerns from the fifties, the phrase, in my mind, hads alwaye referred to quick guns, fast draw, and being ‘hellbent’ to draw faster than your foe, despite the overwelming odds of being unsuccessful. Despite your stuff about ‘horses’, I’ll stick with my own interp.
Twoshea:
April 9th, 2011 at 11:08 am
I always wondered whether the original phrase might have been “hell bent for lather” denoting that the horse would be all lathered up as a result of hard riding.
Incidentally, I, too, was a lover of Dutch Mill Donuts and, in fact, ate two for breakfast every day to help me when I gave up smoking back in 1990. Always wondered what happened to them. Thanks for the info.
Tealeaves:
July 12th, 2011 at 4:31 pm
And all this time I thought it was hell bent on election!
Or is that a mondegreen?
MOTORCYCLE SANTA USTACOULD…. « MotorcycleSanta.com:
February 13th, 2012 at 8:34 pm
[...] July, Motorcycle Santa hit the road on Interstate 45 “hell bent for leather” on my way to Galveston, Texas. Where is [...]
rus k?z?:
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:11 am
Whether we’re talking about the saddle, the crop or the poor horse’s backside, riding fast must be hell for the leather, right?
Sebastian Have I Loved:
April 4th, 2012 at 7:03 am
[...] was also great entertainment. He’d bolt hell-bent-for-leather through our tiny three-room apartment from the kitchen diagonally through the living room to the [...]
fil vidovus:
April 8th, 2012 at 12:50 am
My grandfather told me that the leather in the expression referred to “slapping leather”, (which itself had a double meaning), but generally in the non-sexual sense it had to do with gunfights. As in, “We tried to get ‘em to settle down, but those boys is hell bent for leather.”
max:
April 25th, 2012 at 9:19 pm
fil vidovus sounds like the most accurate to me.
Dr. Derek Lamar:
June 18th, 2012 at 1:13 am
Well, “bent” means “twisted” and “twisted” means “perverse.” And “leather” has to do with “Sadomasochistic” interests…. tied up with leather… and if you’re twisted and perfected for such things you are going to “Hell,” right? As to “What the hell are you doing?” It actually began as “What in Hell are you doing?” But when kids and stupid people get so excited about a “dirty word” they cain’t think straight.
Ray44512:
July 28th, 2012 at 11:15 pm
Reckless determination. Perhaps the song “Hell Bent for Leather” explains it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkAZBmTxDdY&feature=related
Inquiring Mind:
December 29th, 2012 at 1:57 pm
stumbled on this neat site.
I thought it was both… some said hell bent for leather, and some said hell bent FOR election. Regardless of interpretation, we know it means DETERMINED, and heading in a focused direction realllly fast and not stopping.
dave:
December 30th, 2012 at 2:22 pm
Well, now we know where they went… you ate ‘em all! Two a day… sheesh… that’s 730 a year, from 1990 till 2001 when they disappeared, that’s 8130 donuts…
George Hanover:
January 21st, 2013 at 4:35 pm
What is missing in the discussion is the American usage of “hell”–as in “give ‘em hell” and a favorite where I live, “particular hell”. In this use, “hell” seems to mean “tough”, “difficulty” and “hardship”–or even physical torture. That has to be borne in mind: hell for leather was that you rode so hard it was “hell” on the leather (very hard on the leather). I think the responder to the original query missed this common usage of “hell”.
George Hanover:
January 21st, 2013 at 4:37 pm
Also I must add, this reminds me of the silly American phrase “the proof is in the pudding”. Now that is a dumb one, because “the proof of the pudding is in its taste” or words to that effect–so you have Americans buggering up all sorts of pretty, colorful expressions by saying them all wrong. Same is true for the misuse of the two phrases, “hell-bent” and “hell on leather” (correct usage) which somehow comes out as “hell for leather”.
George Hanover:
January 21st, 2013 at 4:40 pm
A final thought: “hell for leather” is right…”hell on leather” wouldn’t be used in such slang language, I was wrong about that little item. The example quoted about riding “hell for leather” is right because he’s being asked to ride in such a way that it is literally “hell” on the leather.
joe cairo:
January 30th, 2013 at 12:11 pm
“Hell Bent” means pulled from the straight path of virtue, forsaking common-sense for a thrill. Tossing Caution to the winds, so to speak.
“For Leather refers to the saddle you’d need to ride horse for a distance at speed. Only a jockey would carry a whip.
Being “bent” on something is to have a predilection for it, or something a bit more obsessive.
“Hell-bent for glory” is another variation of the phrase which underscores the zeal in which being “hell-bent” is often viewed.
SweetViolet:
February 1st, 2013 at 11:10 am
Y’all can second-guess all you want, but I grew up with folks who talked like this and I have to tell you, all the speculation in the world doesn’t change what it means: moving real fast and determined-like.
Both my father and my grandfather (who was born in he 19th century) used the phrase. An example from my granddad, describing an adventure of one of his dogs: “And there he come outta them woods, runnin’ hell bent for leather for the pond, a whole swarm of honey bees, mad as hornets, on his tail!”
john:
February 14th, 2013 at 6:50 pm
Don’t know for sure. But I do know I’ve heard it forever on the Racetrack. Since I was a teen anyway. I’ll be 60 this year, and will still be riding “hell bent for leather” at times. We have the fastest horses alive, and Thoroughbreds are way less predictable than motorcycles. Trust me, I’ve ridden both since the 60′s.
Caro Ness:
March 5th, 2013 at 8:44 am
In the UK it is just “hell for leather”
LuLu:
May 5th, 2013 at 11:16 pm
George…my background is British, and you are right that through time things get changed a bit, so that it gets confusing as to what possibly it could have meant!!! “the proof is in the pudding” is actually not in the ‘pudding’ but in the putting. The complete phrase is.. “the proof is in the putting thereof”. I think because, especially the American (of which I am 1st generation)tends not to enunciate the “t”, but makes it sound like a “d”…is how putting became pudding…
LuLu:
May 5th, 2013 at 11:20 pm
Love your granddad!!!!
LuLu:
May 5th, 2013 at 11:26 pm
Yup!! I was just wondering if it might mean that it would be riding so fast that it would be ‘hell (but) for leather’…It’s a thought. Since no one knows for sure…it might be as good as any. That if it wasn’t for the leather saddle, under you, it would be hell on the backside to ride possibly far that fast???????? Lots of expressions end up with some words missing over time.
Word Nerd:
May 25th, 2013 at 7:31 pm
Thanks for this; the origin of the phrase has been driving me nuts for years, because it never quite made sense.
However, I want to qualify your definition of Hell. Hell is not Paramus, New Jersey unless you believe that a town with about five major shopping malls (consumerism run amok)conveniently located about 20 minutes from Manhattan but with much lower sales tax, is the most unbearable spot imaginable. Chances are, like most people, you just took a cheap shot at New Jersey and threw in Paramus because it is a funny name. By the way, Paramus is a native American word meaning “field of wild turkeys.” You’re welcome :-)
Amanda:
May 26th, 2013 at 5:31 pm
I always thought it was a phrase from cowboy vernacular about driving cattle, i.e. “Rawhide”. The leather would refer to the whips used to drive the herd and to the cattle’s bitter end.
Amanda:
May 26th, 2013 at 5:32 pm
Yee-haw!
http://youtu.be/MSHr4ubuD64