Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- phrase literally Eternal torment in hell awaits sinners.
- phrase humorous People who are
wicked must work harder than normal people.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From the Book of Isaiah verses 48:22 and 57:20-21, originally Hebrew. First attested in English in 1535, in Coverdale Bible of Miles Coverdale. Quoted in biblical sense for centuries, humorous secular sense popularized from 1930s, particularly due to use as title of popular Little Orphan Annie strip by Harold Gray in 1933.
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Examples
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