"shot to hell" origin?

I have to write an essay on "shot to hell" and I have no idea where it came from. does anybody know?

1 entry found for shot to hell.

shot to hell

Worn out, ruined, as in This carpet is shot to hell, or My privacy's been shot to hell, what with all these reporters.

This term alludes to being shot by gunfire. [Slang; late 1800s]

SHOT TO HELL -- "Badly damaged or fatigued; destroyed. The idea is old but the wording is not, doubtless because h**l was not an acceptable word in print until rather recently. The age of the idea is suggested by Edward Ward's 'The Wooden World Dissected' : 'He will...fix ye a Couple of new (ship's) Kennes, when the old ones are shot to the Devil.'" From The Dictionary of Cliches by James Rogers (Wings Books, Originally New York: Facts on File Publications, 1985). Page 234.