beat the living daylights out of
beat the living daylights out of
give someone a very severe beating – informal
Daylight or daylights has been used from the mid 18th century as a metaphor for eyes and here has the extended sense of any vital organ of the body.
RELATED IDIOMS :
burn daylight
use artificial light in daytime
waste daylight
frighten the living daylights out of = scare the living daylights out of
give someone a very severe fright
This expression was a mid 20th-century development from beat the living daylights out of on the premise that the effect of extreme fear is as drastic as physical violence.
1955 - Frank Yerby - The Treasure of Pleasant Valley - Didn't mean to hit him. Meant to throw close to him and scare the living daylights out of him.
see daylight
begin to understand what was previously puzzling or unclear.
beat the living daylights out of :
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