Like The Dickens






Phrases from Shakespeare



Like The Dickens





Meaning:

A lot; as in 'hurts like the dickens'.



Example:







Origin:

Nothing to do with Charles Dickens. Dickens is a euphemism for the word devil, possibly via devilkins. Shakespeare used it in 'the Merry Wives of Windsor: 'I cannot tell what the dickens his name is my husband had him of.'








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