I've heard the expression "going to hell in a hand basket" for years. Is there some particular reason why that method of arriving there is different from however people normally do.
Another I've heard is that, if you're going to hell, you have to change planes in Atlanta. I get that one because it's just a reference to plane travel in and out of much of the south - you have to change in Atlanta.
The hand basket reference baffles me.
The hand basket reference baffles me.
I believe it's predated by handcart, a previous method of transporting dead bodies.
AJ
You might find this interesting.
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/hell-in-a-handbasket.html
The first version of 'to hell in a handbasket' that I can find in print comes from the Weekly pacquet of advice from Rome: or, The history of popery, 1682:
"...that noise of a Popish Plot was nothing in the world but an intrigue of the Whigs to destroy the Kings best Friends, and the Devil fetch me to Hell in a Hand basket, if I might have my will, there should not be one Fanatical Dog left alive in the three Kingdoms."
And
'Going to hell in a handbasket' seems to be just a colourful version of 'going to hell', in the same sense as 'going to the dogs'. 'In a handbasket' is an alliterative intensifier which gives the expression a catchy ring. There doesn't appear to be any particular significance to 'handbasket' apart from the alliteration - any other conveyance beginning with 'H' would have done just as well.
carry the parts when it all comes apart
That could also reference an older model Harley Davidson motorcycle, too. :)
That could also reference an older model Harley Davidson
Wouldn't that be 'Going to Hell on a Harley Davidson'?
AJ