run like the dickens??

Common in the American South earlier , and especially among us OFs...

I just used the phrase "run like the dickens" today with my three year old. He was wondering why we were going to run like chickens? I tried to explain but had no idea the origin. By the way I am an american in my 20's!

Ha!

Yeah, you hear "like the dickens" often in the South. Like, if you get hairspray in your eyes it burns like the dickens, etc....