student asking question

What does "hank" mean here?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

I think "what the hank" here is being used as a milder version of "what the heck", which is itself a milder version of "what the hell". These are all considered polite expletives used in the expression of surprise or questioning or even used as an interjection. However, some people might view "what the heck" and "what the hell" as forms of cursing and, as this is a child's cartoon they have replaced the word "heck" with "hank".

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