“Hella” is more than just a five-letter word. It’s one of the Bay Area’s great cultural exports, along with the Beats, psychedelic rock, and the hyphy movement. The word transcends race, gender, sexuality, and class.

You can hear it nearly all over the Bay Area, from an East Bay high school cafeteria to a San Francisco start-up’s conference room. “Hella” has allowed our region to distinguish itself in a state of almost 40 million people, and in doing so it has earned us scorn from our southern counterparts. I grew up in Maryland, and when I first went to college down in LA, I was unwittingly caught in a war between my NorCal and SoCal peers, and “hella” was the battleground.

“Hella” has slipped out beyond NorCal, getting into the lingo of Pacific Northwesterners. Seattleites and Portlanders have told me that their hometowns have been mistaken as the birthplace of the word. I’ve heard “hella” casually used by midwesterners, New Englanders, and southerners.

Non-Bay Area rappers now use the word just as much as locals. Unlike other regional words such as “wicked” or “mad,” “hella” has enjoyed mass popularity from coast to coast due to its versatility and ability to roll off the tongue.

We’ve got you hella covered when it comes to knowing hella stuff about the word “hella.”