the dickens
(Redirected from what the dickens)
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]See dickens.
Adverb
[edit]- Used as an intensifier.
- Synonyms: the devil; see also Thesaurus:the dickens
- Why the dickens did he do that?
- It is cold as the dickens out here!
- c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 49, column 1:
- I cannot tell what (the dickens) his name is my husband had him of, what do you cal your Knights name ſirrah?
- 1895–1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “What I Saw of the Destruction of Weybridge and Shepperton”, in “The War of the Worlds”, in Pearson’s, London: C[yril] Arthur Pearson, published 1897, page 39, column 1:
- “[…] You’ll come in sight of the Martians I expect about half a mile along this road.” / “What the dickens are they like?” asked the lieutenant.
- 1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter IV, in The Land That Time Forgot:
- "That's it," I exclaimed, "--that's just the taste exactly, though I haven't experienced it since boyhood; but how can water from a flowing stream, taste thus, and what the dickens makes it so warm? It must be at least 70 or 80 Fahrenheit, possibly higher."
- 1992 November 4, Mike Royko, “Bush’s wish isn’t voters’ command”, in Chicago Tribune, 146th year, number 309, Chicago, Ill., →ISSN, →OCLC, section 1, page 3, column 1:
- “Who in the dickens are you?” the lanky man said. / “I am a genie,” the creature said. “I have been trapped in the bottle for ages. You have released me so you are my master.”
Derived terms
[edit]Noun
[edit]- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see the, dickens; (euphemistic) the devil.
- She can go to the dickens for what she said.
- 2023 July 27, Max Brockman & Shana Gohd, “The Campaign” (8:49 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows[1], season 5, episode 4, spoken by Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch):
- “Four weeks ago, I was sitting down for breakfast with my beautiful wife, Evie. Evie and I were sitting down with our two beautiful little boys, Connor and C-C-- Cah-- ristopher, and Christopher looks up to me-- he's six years old and full of the dickens--”