Question: how did the saying "i'll beat the dickens out of you come about? 

Answer: ref: "education.yahoo.com/reference" under definitions\n\ndickens: noun-informal\n1. a severe reprimand or expression of anger:gave me the dickens for being late.\n2. Used as an intensive: What in the dickens is that?\nEtymology: Alteration of devil (influenced by the name Dickens)\n\nRef: same as above (under quotations)\n\nthere is a reference to Shakespeare (WM that is) (1564-1616)\n\n"I cannot tell what the dickens his name is."\nfrom The Merry Wives of Windsor Act iii, Sc. 2.\n\nRef: www.etymonline.com/\n\ndickens:  exclamation, 1598, probably altered from Dickon, nickname for Richard & source of surnames Dickens & Dickenson, but exact derivaiton & meaning are unknown.\n\nAll I could find!
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