Neither helter nor skelter had any meaning in themselves. Helter-skelter has been in common use in England for the past 400 years and has been known in the USA since the 1820s. Helter skelter, haue I rode to thee, and tidings do I bring. Shakespeare, always ready to appropriate colourful new language, used the term a few years later in Henry IV, Part. ('To confute' is, or rather was, as it has been used only rarely since the 17th century, 'to render futile', 'to prove an argument to be false'.) "Helter skelter, feare no colours, course him, trounce him." Thomas Nashe used it that way in his ' Four letters confuted', 1592: The term long pre-dates the fairground ride and has been used to mean disorderly haste or confusion since at least the 16th century. So, beyond the fairground, what is helter-skelter? (Note - apropos of nothing in particular: 'The World's Manufacturing Company' - it's been some years since a British company had the confidence to call itself something like that.)ĭoes the phrase helter-skelter derive from the slides' name? No, it's the other way about - the phrase came first. "The World's Manufacturing Company, examples of whose 'helter-skelter' lighthouses are at Earl's Court, Blackpool, Southport, and other places." In 1906, the UK newspaper The Westmorland Gazette included this: Helter-Skelter slides began appearing at British fairs around the turn of the 20th century. If so, the song's lyrics may also evoke memories of clinging on to hessian mats and spiralling down fairground slides. Those of a certain age might remember The Beatles' song from the 1968 White Album - Helter Skelter. What's the origin of the phrase 'Helter-skelter'? 'Helter-skelter' means ' pell-mell - in chaotic and disorderly haste'.Īlso, a Helter-Skelter is the name of an English fairground attraction with a spiral slide. Reduplicated phrases What's the meaning of the phrase 'Helter-skelter'?.