The “ask anybody on the street” argument doesn’t really work because people also describe heaven as having pearly gates (when that actually is the Holy City in Revelation), or God being an old man with a long white beard, or to attribute proverbs to the Bible that it doesn’t say (like “money is the root of all evil” or “God helps those who help themselves.”)
That’s true, but the Bible does describe hell as the way people tend to think of it.
The Bible describes the creation of the universe, from the formation of the space-time continuum down to the human life on this particular planet, as happening in 6 days. People when it was written would not understand the reality of it. So simpler, easier-to-comprehend language is used.
That doesn’t mean the Bible is wrong, but it does mean the truth is probably more complex and that the specific complexity is not altogether important to make the relevant point.