billy-o

[FredPuli]

What is the origin of 'billy-o' in expressions such as 'it hurt like billy-o' and 'he yelled like billy-o' , meaning ' a great deal, extremely' ? Who was Billy or is it ,perhaps ,some mis-hearing of some foreign word meaning that?

[brawburd]

According to oxford dictionary it's late 19C, unknown origin.

[Mortartube]

Not a conclusive answer but........ http://www.worldwidewords.org/topicalwords/tw-bil1
.htm

[the_dipsey_1]

ahh nice to see old local places like maldon on the mud be mentioned god knows they wouldnt any where else lol