text: how did the saying "i'll beat the dickens out of you come about?   ref: "education.yahoo.com/reference" under definitions  dickens: noun-informal 1. a severe reprimand or expression of anger:gave me the dickens for being late. 2. used as an intensive: what in the dickens is that? etymology: alteration of devil (influenced by the name dickens)  ref: same as above (under quotations)  there is a reference to shakespeare (wm that is) (1564-1616)  "i cannot tell what the dickens his name is." from the merry wives of windsor act iii, sc. 2.  ref: www.etymonline.com/  dickens:  exclamation, 1598, probably altered from dickon, nickname for richard & source of surnames dickens & dickenson, but exact derivaiton & meaning are unknown.  all i could find!