hobs of hell n pl Also hubs of Hades, ~ hell, ~ heck, hugs of hell [ hob n1]
The hottest part of hell—used fig, in compar phrr.
1939 (1962) Thompson Body & Britches 495 Upstate NY, Hotter’n the hobs of hell. 1944 NY Times (NY) 10 Mar 14/7 NYC, What the unnamed Senator no doubt said was that “the hardtack was hard as the hobs of hell,” not “hubs,” as printed. This simile, to my own personal knowledge, is at least half a century old and was frequently used by the volunteers of ’98 to describe the hard-tack issued to the Army during the Spanish-American War. 1967–70 DARE (Qu. B3, If a day is very hot, you say it’s . . _____) Infs IL117, NE7, WI36, Hot as (or hotter than) the hubs of hell; IA8, Hotter than the hugs of hell; (Qu. HH22b, . . A very mean person . . “He’s meaner than _____.”) Inf CA61, The hubs of heck. 1969 DARE FW Addit swMO, By God it was hotter than the hubs of Hades. 1984 Weaver TX Crude 100, Texas hot—“It’s hotter than the hubs of hell.”