Also:
For the heck of it,
Just for the hell/heck of it
Meaning Of Idiom ‘For the Hell Of It’
For the hell of it means for no particular reason or purpose; just for fun; on a whim. 1Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.,2Heacock, Paul. Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms]. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2010.,3Kirkpatrick, Elizabeth M. The Wordsworth Dictionary of Idioms. Ware: Wordsworth, 1995.
Usage Notes
This idiom is often used to refer to something bad, illegal, or ill-advised. Heck is often used as a eupemism for hell.
Examples Of Use
“Billy set off the fire alarm in school today. He told the principal he did it just for the hell of it.”
“Hey let’s go visit the old workplace, just for the heck of it.”
“My grandparents decided to buy an RV and drive around the country for the hell of it.”
“Why did you throw rocks at those cars?” “Just for the heck of it.”
“I had nothing better to do so I made a cake for the hell of it.”
“They stole the car just for the hell of it. They wanted to go joyriding.”
“You want to go see the world’s biggest ball of yarn? “Why would we do that?” “Just for the hell of it.”
Origin
Used since the early part of the 1900s.
