beat the living daylights out of

Idioms and Phrases

Also, knock or lick the hell or living daylights or shit or stuffing or tar out of . Administer a merciless beating to; also, defeat soundly. For example, The coach said he'd like to beat the living daylights out of the vandals who damaged the gym floor , or Bob knocked the stuffing out of that bully , or He swore he'd beat the tar out of anyone who tried to stop him . These colloquial phrases nearly always denote a physical attack. In the first, daylights originally (1700) meant “the eyes” and later was extended to any vital ( living ) body organ. Thus Henry Fielding wrote, in Amelia (1752): “If the lady says another such words to me ... I will darken her daylights” (that is, put out her eyes). Hell here is simply a swear word used for emphasis. The more vulgar shit and the politer stuffing allude simply to knocking out someone's insides. Tar is more puzzling but has been so used since the late 1800s.

Example Sentences

Cruz told AP that while he and Trump “beat the living daylights” out of each other in the 2016 race — when Trump savaged the senator’s wife and family with verbal assaults — he made his way to Trump Tower afterward, becoming Trump’s “strongest” Senate ally.

From Seattle Times

Be prepared to watch children savagely beat the living daylights out of each other on multiple occasions.

From New York Times

“They beat the living daylights out of him, Roland. For a while there, we weren’t sure he’d even make it, but he’s holding his own.”

From Literature

For me, the pleasures of watching a woman beat the living daylights out of a series of men are short-lived when there is little emotion behind the combat.

From The Guardian

“That is going to be a hanging curveball for Democrats. They will beat the living daylights out of Republicans.”

From New York Times