What does "helluva" stand for? Here's an extract from The catcher in the rye; "Stradlater's all right He's not too bad," I said. "You don't know him, thats the trouble." "I still say he's a sonuvabitch. He's a conceited sonuvabitch." "He's conceited, but he's very generous in some things. He really is," I said. "Look. Suppose, for instance, Stradlater was wearing a tie or something that you liked. Say he had a tie on that you liked a helluva lot--I'm just giving you an example, now. You know what he'd do? He'd probably take it off and give it ta you. He really would. Or--you know what he'd do? He'd leave it on your bed or something.