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Catchword for “hell strip”
Catchword: hell strip
Filed Under: , ,
Part of Speech: n.
Quotation: That comes with the territory on hell strips, the phrase some people use to describe the section of soil between the sidewalk and the street. It’s tough growing there, yet that’s exactly where certain die-hard gardeners are digging flower beds.
Article or Document Title:
“Green thumbs work magic on hell strips” (URL)
Author:
Marty Hair
Article, Document, Publication, Web Site:
Detroit Free Press
Publishing Location:
Michigan
Date of Publication:
July 30, 2006
This catchword has yet to be researched.
Posted 2 Aug 06 | Permalink | Tell a Friend
Comments:
This is a version of the “Devil Strip”…an expression peculiar to Toledo Ohio in my experience.  The legend is that you weren’t supposed to play there as it’s where the streetcar steps would sweep along as they passed by, slicing up hapless bystanders.
by MadScott 03 Aug 06, 0124 GMT
The Dictionary of American Regional English agrees with you. It has “devil strip” with the same meaning as you give, marks it as “chiefly northeast Ohio” and dates it to at least as early as 1957. It does not, however, have “hell strip.”
by Grant Barrett 03 Aug 06, 0937 GMT

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