Deriving from ‘have to’, or ‘have+{infinitive}’ broken down into ‘have+to+{verb}’ but minus the verb, ‘hafta’ works as a verb-modifying adverb taking the place of the modal-auxilary ‘must’ which means literally ‘to be required to __’. In colloquial speech (as opposed to ‘formal speech’ under which you would not use this word{hafta}}, it means simply to have a strong desire towards, or want for, doing {something}, with the ‘something’ usually seen through the eyes of the speaker as a *necessity* (even if in actuality it is no more than icing on the cake).
Synonyms: haveto, have to, must, ’ve to, oughtta{ought to}, wanna\wanta{want to}, gotta{got to}
See also: musta\must’ve(must have..not nonsensical ‘must of’), shoulda\should’ve{should have..not nonsensical ‘should of’}, ta\tta, -ta\-tta, t‘be
Synonyms: haveto, have to, must, ’ve to, oughtta{ought to}, wanna\wanta{want to}, gotta{got to}
See also: musta\must’ve(must have..not nonsensical ‘must of’), shoulda\should’ve{should have..not nonsensical ‘should of’}, ta\tta, -ta\-tta, t‘be
by Victor Van Styn August 12, 2005
by Kimmie H October 19, 2006
Deriving from the phrase ‘have to’(which is have+infinitive, broken-down into have+to+{verb}, but minus the verb), ‘hafta’ usually functions as a verb-modifying adverb replacing the modal-auxiliary ‘must’, ‘required to ___’; used to show a strong desire toward, or want for, doing something.
See also: gotsta, wanna, oughtta, tta\-tta
See also: gotsta, wanna, oughtta, tta\-tta
by Victor Van Styn August 10, 2005
Anyone, especially a senior citizen, handicapped person, or person with a child or children, that you "hafta" leave a seat on the bus, train, or plane.
It's the weekend, and you know what that means: the bus schedules are all FUAU and every hafta and his dog is getting on the bus to go shopping!
by pentozali November 30, 2006
What you eye-twinklingly tell one or more workmen who are hammering/prying away siding and/or timbers on a home or business in preparation to making repairs/renovations.
Anytime I come upon contractors doing outside carpentry work at a home or place of business along da main street downtown, I love jokingly saying to them, "You know, guys --- there IS da FRONT DOOR, if you wanna get in so badly! You could just open da door and walk through; you don't hafta BREAK DA WALL DOWN to get inside!" I usually get an equally-smart-alecky reply from them, as well, such as, "Oh, we know that, but we wanna be more subtle about our entry!", or "Yeah, we could, but this way is more fun!"
by QuacksO October 31, 2023
Jokingly telling fellow adults dat, "At least we don't hafta shovel liquid water" may indeed make them feel better about a drearily-wet portion of da end/beginning-of-year season, but small children may not be over impressed or cheered by said statement, since they would much prefer to have snow dat dey could go out and play in.
by QuacksO November 22, 2021
Humorous way of saying dat you currently have plenty of time to complete your present task --- i.e., you aren't "rushin' around".
I started out extra-early on my around-town-errands trip, so I don't hafta visit da Soviet Union today.
by QuacksO November 10, 2024