Hella

Where did this word come from?

Why is it only in Northern California that people feel the need to use it on an every-other-sentence basis?

For those not familiar, "hella" can basically be replaced with "really". But it's not.

What's worse? ...If these articulate conversationalists decide "hella" isn't appropriate for those they're speaking to, they go as far as to replace it with the word "hecka".

Hecka?

Really?