• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Language / Where does the expression “to beat the living daylights out of someone” originate and What does it mean?

Where does the expression “to beat the living daylights out of someone” originate and What does it mean?

July 22, 2020 by Karen Hill

The expression “to beat the living daylights out of someone” means: To beat severely; flog unmercifully; lick the stuffing or tar out of one, or many other synonyms for thrash, punish, chastise.

All these indicate severe punishment that is to be administered to a foe or even to a son, but none is so drastic as the original and less verbose threat.

That is, back in the late eighteenth century or, most probably earlier, one threatened “to let daylight into” someone, usually a foe.

This was, or was to be, accomplished by means of an opening made into his system by a dagger or sword or other sharp-pointed instrument or, in later times, by a bullet. But such actual punishment bore attendant risk of reprisal by law, so the threats became more moderate.

One was less likely to swing for merely thrashing a person, and, certainly, “living daylights” could not be interpreted as a threat of death.

The suspicion is that the modified phrase is of American origin, dating back perhaps seventy-five years.

Related Facts

  • What does the expression "hair and hide" (horns and tallow) mean and Where does it originate?
  • Where does the old expression and exclamation "hurrah!" originate and what does it mean?
  • What does the expression "to quarrel with one's bread and butter" mean and Where does it originate?
  • What does the expression "all my eye and Betty Martin" mean and Where does it originate?
  • What does the expression "to strain at a gnat and swallow a camel" mean and Where does it originate?
  • Where does the expression "six of one and half a dozen of the other" originate and What does it mean?

Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « What does the phrase “to talk a blue streak” mean and Where does it come from?
Next Post: What does the phrase “to meet one’s Waterloo” mean and Where does it come from? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2021 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy