Re: USAGE: English adverbials 'the heck', 'the hell', etc.

Philippe Caquant wrote:

>I think there is no strict equivalence to "the hell"
>in French. "What the hell are you doing" could be
>"Qu'est-ce que diable tu es en train de faire ?", but
>anyway, not "le diable" neither "l'enfer". More harsh
>translations would be "Qu'est-ce que tu fous, bordel
>?", or "..., merde ?". These also much more common
>(usual pronunciation: Kestüfu)
>
>

It used to be that way in English, you'd say 'what the devil', 'who the
devil', etc.)