- Joined
- Dec 28, 2014
I always thought the expression "What the dickens?" or "cold as the dickens" or in general anything involving dickenses was somehow a reference to Charles Dickens, but then I ran into it in Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor, specifically "'I cannot tell what the dickens his name is'" which is obviously before Dickens.
It's apparently a euphemism for the devil. Or it might be a reference to someone else named Dickens. Nobody knows why. Unless someone does.
It's apparently a euphemism for the devil. Or it might be a reference to someone else named Dickens. Nobody knows why. Unless someone does.