Wicked is as Wicked Does

California has "hella." Maine has "wicked." Texas has...Texas has. Hmm. Texas doesn't need a tag-line! When Spike and I moved to San Francisco about a year and a half ago, I never expected a) to be living in San Francisco - ever, b) to be living in Maine - ever, and c) to hate the expression "hella" so much that I've come to appreciate the expression "wicked."

Take for example, "My headache is so hella bad right now" or "My vacation was hella awesome." I heard it used on the train going to work, in the grocery store, at the movies. Anywhere people talked, that awful word came out of their mouths. My issue with it isn't that it has the word "hell" in it. It's that it's such a crazy abbreviation of "hell of a." This just goes to prove how lax people on the west coast are about their speech. My friend Rene said that kids at school would even say "hecka" so they weren't cursing. I'm not sure which one I dislike more.

Maine's version of "hella" is "wicked." This one I like much more. They probably use it just as much as the Californians used...that other word. Mainers like to use "wicked" to describe everything from storms to food to traffic. It can go either way to describe something bad or good. Let's practice, shall we?

That guy had the most wicked fast pitch.

He scraped up his knee wicked bad.

The food at the restaurant was so wicked awesome.

I like "wicked" because it seems like it has roots a little bit deeper than "hella." Sure, new words come around all the time, but "hella" needs to be put on the back-burner and left to burn. To a black crisp. Then put down the disposal with the moldy leftovers that have been in the back of the fridge for two months. Now THAT would be wicked.