beat the living daylights out of

Idioms  

1. Also,. 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.

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Example Sentences

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

From New York Times

A new "Drunk History" recalls a time in 1851 when a congressman reached across the aisle to beat the living daylights out of a political rival.

From Los Angeles Times

Frankly, if it inspires little girls to wear what they wish during the day and slip out at night in a bin bag or a burka, their pajamas or their underwear worn over spandex to beat the living daylights out of the Taliban at night, I’ll take it.

From Newsweek

Will her hulking, jealous ex find him and beat the living daylights out of him?

From New York Times

“I’m not quite sure when it began, and I’m sure most of the teenage boys in America want to beat the living daylights out of whomever started it,” she recently wrote on her blog.

From New York Times