dickens
Euphemistic mild oath
Dickens is a mild oath used as a euphemism for devil, appearing in expressions of surprise or emphasis: What the dickens is going on? , It hurt like the dickens.
The word dates to Shakespeare's era and has no connection to the novelist—it likely derives from a pet form of the name Richard. (Capitalized Dickens is the Victorian novelist.)
euphemism
Evil supernatural entity
- deucePair on dice
- blazesIntense, spreading fires
- heckMild frustrated exclamation
- tarnationMild rural curse
exclamation · oath · surprise · frustration · exasperation · Shakespeare
intensifier
Stress given to something
- extremeFurthest from moderate
- remarkableWorthy of attention
- tremendousExtraordinarily large or powerful
- considerableNotably large in amount
devil
Evil supernatural entity
tarnation · exclamation · oath · surprise · frustration · exasperation · Shakespeare
emphasis
Stress given to something
- extremeFurthest from moderate
- remarkableWorthy of attention
- tremendousExtraordinarily large or powerful
intensity of oath/exclamation
dickenshell
Underworld of suffering
fuck · goddamn · damn · devil · bloody hell
- Charles Dickens
- the dickensEmphatic exclamation substitute