billy-oh
noun1
Dated, Slang, In the phrase 'like billy-oh' The greatest extent or degree of something; used in comparisons to indicate a superlative.
- I bashed my thumb with a hammer, and it hurts like billy-oh.
- "For the wooden fence leading up to the bridge had caught fire, and it was burning like billy oh."1901, Edith Nesbit, The Wouldbegoods, T. Fisher Unwin:
2 more examples
- "'You know—if you've ever picked the scab of a sore place. It hurts like billy-oh but it is such fun to see it coming away.'"1952, C. S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, HarperTrophy:
- "'Our old saw's as blunt as billy-oh! You couldn't cut butter with it!'"1995, Marion Houldsworth, The Morning Side of the Hill, Boolarong Press: