As all get-out (or to do something like all get-out) is an American dialectal intensifier meaning to an extreme degree, severely, or to the utmost extent. E.g. “It’s as hot as all get-out today.”
Origin & Etymology: Myth vs. Reality
Popular theories often attempt to link all get-out to British nouns (such as a theater “get-out” or escape clause) or invent dramatic backstories about animals escaping a barn. Other sources claim it was invented as a literal euphemistic substitute for “hell.”
However, mid-19th-century text records show these explanations are unnecessary over-complications. The phrase is a straightforward example of a standalone exclamation converting into an adjectival intensifier.
From Interjection to Intensifier
In 1830s and 1840s American frontier dialect, “Git out!” was a ubiquitous verbal interjection used to express intense disbelief, shock, or amazement, much like the modern exclamation “Get out of here!”, “No way!”, or “Shut the door!”
Rather than referring to physical escape as in “getting out,” speakers began slotting this fixed exclamation directly into standard comparative formulas (as… as or like…) to mean “to an unbelievable or shocking degree”:
- “As git-out” / “As all git-out”: Modifying adjectives to denote extreme quality (“impudent as git out”, “hungry as all git out”). The word all was added simply as a dialectal emphasis (similar to all-fired).
- “Like all git-out”: Modifying verbs to describe extreme action or force (“dig in like all git-out”, “hurts like all git-out”).
While these phrases operate in the exact same grammatical way as “as hell” or “like hell”, they evolved separately an not as a literal euphemistic translation of the word hell. Instead, they simply borrowed the same grammatical place that swear words and exclamations usually occupy when intensifying an adjective or verb.
The “Like Crazy” Parallel
To understand how an exclamation easily becomes an intensifier, consider the common phrase “like crazy.”
The word crazy describes a state of intense excitement, frantic energy, or overwhelming reaction (e.g., “he went crazy over the news”). From that emotional baseline, slotting it into an adverbial phrase, “working like crazy” or “driving like crazy”, , is a direct, natural shift. English speakers don’t need a complex backstory about psychiatric hospitals to explain why “crazy” means “to an extreme degree.”
The evolution of “as all get-out” followed the exact same path. The frontier interjection “Git out!” expressed shock and disbelief. Slotting that high-energy reaction directly into a comparative frame (“hungry as git-out” or “running like git-out”) was a simple, single step to express extreme degree, requiring no elaborate theories about escaping farm animals or theater troupes.
Historical Receipts in Print
The phrase appeared extensively in American humor and dialect literature starting in the 1840s:
- 1844: Jonathan Slick’s High Life in N.Y. features the earliest recorded print use: “as impudent as git out.”
- 1854: Alexander Stimson’s Easy Nat: “I’m as hungry as all git out!”
- 1884: Mark Twain popularized the phrase in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: “We got to dig in like all git-out.”
Standardization from the phonetic git-out to the modern spelling get-out occurred gradually throughout the early 20th century.
Sentence Examples
“After working a 12-hour shift in the sun, I was tired as all get-out.”
“When the thunderstorm hit, the wind started blowing like all get-out.”
“Don’t argue with him when he’s in that mood. He can be stubborn as all get-out.”
Similar and Related Expressions
- Like Billy-o: The traditional British English equivalent used to express extreme degree or force (“raining like billy-o”).
- Like Hell / As Hell: The vulgar or direct intensifiers that function in the exact same grammatical positions.
- To the Nines: To an extreme or elaborate degree.