You just use it cause it's a term that you grew up in the neighborhood saying. It's like being from Pennsylvania and saying "youse" instead of "you". Hella originated in the bay area like hella years ago. It was just something that grew on you and you still use it today cause you never grew out of it. Some guy from Vegas tried to tell me hella started in Vegas and I was like "Fuck that. Dude you gotta be fucking retarded, hell no."
You're hella dumb.
Bammer is hella nasty.
I'm hella tired tonight.
That shit was hella hard.
by youpeoplearefuckingstupid June 14, 2004
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Term used to indicate personal superiority. When spoken in conversation, the receiving party immediatley knows that the person saying the word is of a high class because of that person's NorCal roots.
Thusly, if the receiver is not of the same geography and stature, negative emotions arise from envy. A primary example is that of the frustrated SoCal dweller who is frequently subjected to the mighty and humbling presence of NorCalers.
Alternatively, Hella can alert other prestigious NorCalers that they are dealing with a higher species much like themselves.
NorCaler: "That was Hella cool!"
SoCaler: "Huh? Wha? Hella? That sounds dumb."
NorCaler: "No sir. You sir are Hella dumb. Good day."
SoCaler: "Oh yah. You're...dumbererer. Keanu rules!!"
by Saltydog August 19, 2004
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Hella is used mainly in Northern California/Central Valley. If one from NorCal or the Valley goes to vacation to the coast or SoCal and uses hella, they might be shunned or easily spotted as a tourist. Most who are not from the Valley or NorCal do not know how to use hella properly.
The most common use is when it replaces "very" or "a lot".

Normal: It was very hot and a lot of people went swimming.
Hella-fied: It was hella hot and hella people went swimming.

It can also replace "straight up" or "word".

Normal: Man, it's so hot!
-Word.
Hella-fied: Man, it's hella hot!
-Hella.
by motizzle August 20, 2006
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Maximally quantifying term; originated in Northern California.
How many people were at the party? Hella.

Man, the Warriors hella kicked the Lakers' ass!

Let's count the real numbers: 1, 2, 3, ... hella.
by Anonymous November 13, 2004
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A word widely used by the youth of the Sanfrancisco Bay Area and it's surrounding cities. It can be used as an adjective, noun, adverb, and a few interjections, but it is mostly used as an adverb. It can replace descriptive words meaning "high quantities", primarily words such as 'very' and 'many', and also substitutes for words groups like 'a lot' and 'a bunch'
very- He was going hella fast.
many- Hella people died that day.
a lot(of)- I had hella fun, but I gtg now.
a bunch(of)- He pwned hella n00bs last game.

by Jerry Tristan June 11, 2008
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i'm from norcal so pretty much we say hella a lot. it means very, a lot, or just to throw it in because nothing else works. socal people trip too hard off it.
people from socal are hella stupid for never shutting the fuck up about a word.

i'm hella bored

your hella stupid
by jenna August 16, 2004
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