Scared the Dickens out of me

Posted by Henry on February 10, 2004

In Reply to: Scared the Dickens out of me posted by lachlan oddy on February 10, 2004

:
: Does anyone know of the origins for the phrase "Scared the Dickens out of me?" I assume it has at least SOMETHING to do with Charles Dickens but I really can't come up with a strong link on my own....

What the dickens! is a euphemistic way of saying What the devil! The phrase can be found in Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor.

• Scared the Dickens out of me ESC 10/February/04