I will make it to my 8AM class come hell or high water.
While I don't mean to slight those caught in their cars in Bethesda, MD as a water main broke ruptured on ironically named River Road, this level of high water does not seem to be equivalent to the obstacle that would be hell. Something on the level of the flooding of Hurricane Katrina is a living hell, but high water in general not so much. Perhaps it was a product of its time—when your whole town is built of wood a little high water can do a world of damage. I don't think we can appreciate that contextual equivalency today.
Though perhaps I am mistaken. I am assuming hell in this situation is referring to an actual space—the proper noun Hell. If we're thinking of hell as an adjective meaning "hellish things," the idiom may still stand. That brings up a whole other issue, however.
1 comment:
I believe "hell or high water" is an allusion to the Old Testament: hell being obvious; high water, the Flood.
The phrase is equatable, though not equal, to "Kingdom come" (as in I'll be reading this book until Kingdom come). The reference here is that the duration of an activity will extend until The End of Days or the Apocalypse (depending on the Christian sect one ascribes to).
In both cases, the presence of some heavenly (or maybe supernal) power is acting upon the comparably passive human race. This fear of God or the gods or the Uncontrollable (weather, disaster, etc.) drives the real understanding of the idioms. In my example, the anxiety of a Sisyphean task is marked by concision (notably, Sisyphean is more concise, albeit more esoteric). In your example, the desire to defy (and so, take action against) the ultimate deadline, that is, Judgment.
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