Speak of the Devil
Encyclopedia
"Speak of the devil
" is the short form of the idiom
"Speak of the devil and he doth appear". It is used when an object of discussion unexpectedly becomes present during the conversation. For example, if Alice and Bob
start discussing Charlie while he isn't in the room, and Charlie walks into the room, Alice or Bob might say, "Speak of the devil!"
It can also be used about a topic that quickly becomes relevant, such as the onset of rain or a car breaking down. Used in this sense it can be seen as an alternative to the phrase "tempting fate".
The phrase is an abbreviation of English proverb
, "Speak of the devil and he doth appear." Deriving from the Middle Ages, this proverb (which was, and to a certain extent still is, rendered as "Talk of the Devil...") was a superstitious prohibition against speaking directly of the Devil or of evil in general, which was considered to incite that party to appear, generally with unfortunate consequences. Its first printed usage in modern English can be found in Giovanni Torriano's Piazza Universale (1666), as "The English say, Talk of the Devil, and he's presently at your elbow."
The phrase lost its overt message during the 19th century, during which it became a warning against eavesdroppers ("No good of himself does a listener hear,/Speak of the devil he's sure to appear"), and by the 20th century had taken on its present meaning.
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
" is the short form of the idiom
Idiom
Idiom is an expression, word, or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is comprehended in regard to a common use of that expression that is separate from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made...
"Speak of the devil and he doth appear". It is used when an object of discussion unexpectedly becomes present during the conversation. For example, if Alice and Bob
Alice and Bob
The names Alice and Bob are commonly used placeholder names for archetypal characters in fields such as cryptography and physics. The names are used for convenience; for example, "Alice sends a message to Bob encrypted with his public key" is easier to follow than "Party A sends a message to Party...
start discussing Charlie while he isn't in the room, and Charlie walks into the room, Alice or Bob might say, "Speak of the devil!"
It can also be used about a topic that quickly becomes relevant, such as the onset of rain or a car breaking down. Used in this sense it can be seen as an alternative to the phrase "tempting fate".
The phrase is an abbreviation of English proverb
Proverb
A proverb is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim...
, "Speak of the devil and he doth appear." Deriving from the Middle Ages, this proverb (which was, and to a certain extent still is, rendered as "Talk of the Devil...") was a superstitious prohibition against speaking directly of the Devil or of evil in general, which was considered to incite that party to appear, generally with unfortunate consequences. Its first printed usage in modern English can be found in Giovanni Torriano's Piazza Universale (1666), as "The English say, Talk of the Devil, and he's presently at your elbow."
The phrase lost its overt message during the 19th century, during which it became a warning against eavesdroppers ("No good of himself does a listener hear,/Speak of the devil he's sure to appear"), and by the 20th century had taken on its present meaning.
In other languages
- Afrikaans: "Praat van die duiwel en jy trap op sy stert", which translates to "Speak of the devil and you step on its tail."
- AlbanianAlbanian languageAlbanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
: "Kujto qenin e bëj gati shkopin", which translates to "Remember the dog and prepare the stick."
- ArabicArabic languageArabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
: Several, based on dialect and usage.- Modern Standard Arabic: "عمرك طويل" (`Umrak ṭawīl), which translates to "A long life for you (whom we spoke of)."
- Egyptian ArabicEgyptian ArabicEgyptian Arabic is the language spoken by contemporary Egyptians.It is more commonly known locally as the Egyptian colloquial language or Egyptian dialect ....
:- "جبنا سيرة القط، جاء ينط" (Gibna sirt al-'uṭṭ, ga yanuṭṭ), which translates to "We brought up the tale of the cat, and now here he comes jumping."
- "يا ريت قلت ميليون جنيه" (Ya reet 'ult milyōn ginieh), which translates to "Would that I had said 'a million poundsEgyptian poundThe Egyptian Pound is the currency of Egypt. It is divided into 100 Qirsh , or 1,000 Milliemes ....
'!". May also be used jocularly or insultingly when altered to say "يا ريت قلت ربع جنيه مخروم" (Ya reet 'ult rub` gineh makhrūm), "Would that I had said 'a quarter-pound piece with a hole in it'."
- BulgarianBulgarian languageBulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
: "Говорим за вълка, а той - в кошарата", (Govorim za vulka, a toi - v kosharata) translated as "Speak of the wolf and it is at the door."
- Mandarin Chinese: 说曹操,曹操到 (PinyinPinyinPinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: "shuō Cáo Cāo, Cáo Cāo dào"), which translates as "Speak of Cao CaoCao CaoCao Cao was a warlord and the penultimate chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty who rose to great power during the dynasty's final years. As one of the central figures of the Three Kingdoms period, he laid the foundations for what was to become the state of Cao Wei and was posthumously titled...
and Cao Cao arrives." Originally a quotation from Romance of the Three KingdomsRomance of the Three KingdomsRomance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century, is a Chinese historical novel based on the events in the turbulent years near the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history, starting in 169 and ending with the reunification of the land in...
.
- CroatianCroatian languageCroatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
: "Mi o vuku, a vuk na vrata", which translates to "When we talk about the wolf, he stands behind the door."
- CzechCzech languageCzech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
: "My o vlku, a vlk za dveřmi", which translates to "Speak of the wolf, and he will stand just outside the door."
- DanishDanish languageDanish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
: "Når man taler om solen, så skinner den", which translates to "When you speak of the sun, it shines."
- DutchDutch languageDutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
: "Als je het over de duivel hebt, trap je op zijn staart", which translates to "If you speak of the devil, you will step on his tail."
- FinnishFinnish languageFinnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
: "Siinä paha missä mainitaan", which translates to "Evil is where it's mentioned."
- FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
: "Quand on parle du loup, (on en voit la queue)", which translates to "When one speaks of the wolf, (one sees its tail)."
- GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
: "Wenn man vom Teufel spricht..." (speak of the devil) and (older and less common) "Wird der Teufel genannt, kommt er gerannt" translating "call/name the devil and he comes running", both used like the English counterpart.
- GreekGreek languageGreek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: "Κατά φωνή κι ο γάιδαρος" (Katá foní ki o gáidaros), usually shortened to "Κατά φωνή..." ("Katá foní..." "Speak of..."). The literal meaning is "Speak of the donkey".
- HebrewHebrew languageHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
: "מדברים על החמור, והנה הוא בא", "M'dabrim 'al ha-khamor, ve-hinei hu ba" - "Talking about the donkey, and here it comes". Typically shortened to just "M'dabrim 'al ha-khamor..."
- HindustaniHindustani languageHindi-Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language and the lingua franca of North India and Pakistan. It is also known as Hindustani , and historically, as Hindavi or Rekhta...
(HindiHindiStandard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
and UrduUrduUrdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
): "Shaitan ka na'am lo, shaitan hazir" which translates to "Speak of the devil, and he will appear."
- HungarianHungarian languageHungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
: "Ne fesd az ördögöt a falra, mert megjelenik." which translates to "Don't paint the devil on the wall or he will appear." Other (older, rural) version is "Farkast emlegetnek, a kert alatt jár." which translates to "Wolf is being mentioned, it walks under [at the side of] the garden." and is a derivation of the Latin proverb "Lupus in fabula" ("Wolf in the tale.").- However this is mostly used when talking about a possible negative outcome of an event. When talking about a person, "Emlegetett szamár..." is used, which translates to "Mentioned donkey".
- IndonesianIndonesian languageIndonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
: "Wah, panjang umur dia" which translates to "A long life for you, whom we spoke of."
- Irish proverb: "Speak to the Devil and you'll hear his hooves clatter."
- ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
: "Parli del diavolo e spuntano le corna", which translates as "Talk of the Devil and the horns will appear."
- JapaneseJapanese languageis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
: "うわさをすれば影” (uwasa o sureba kage), which translates to "Gossip (about someone) and (his) shadow (will appear)."
- KoreanKorean languageKorean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
: "호랑이도 제 말하면 온다” (horangi do jae malhamyun onda), which translates to "If you talk about a tiger, it will appear."
- LatvianLatvian languageLatvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...
: "Kā vilku piemin, tā vilks klāt", which translates to "When you speak of the wolf, it arrives."
- LithuanianLithuanian languageLithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
: "Vilką mini, vilkas čia", which translates to "When you speak of the wolf, it arrives."
- NorwegianNorwegian languageNorwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
: "Snakker om sola, så skinner'n", which translates to "Speak of the sun, and it shines."
- MalaysianMalay languageMalay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
: "Panjang umur kau.."
- PersianPersian languagePersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
: "حلال زاده بود", "Halal zade bud", which translates to "He (or she) is a legitimate child."
- PolishPolish languagePolish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
: "O wilku mowa, (a wilk tuż tuż).", which translates to "Speak of the wolf (and the wolf is nearby)."
- PortuguesePortuguese languagePortuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
: "Falando do rei de Roma," which translates to "speaking of the king of Rome", or "Falando do Diabo...(apareceu o rabo)", which translates "Speak of the devil (his tail appears)" or "Não morre mais!", which translates to "(you) Won't die anymore".
- RomanianRomanian languageRomanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
: "Vorbeşti de lup şi lupul la uşă", translated as "Speak of the wolf and the wolf [is] at the door."
- RussianRussian languageRussian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
: "Помяни чёрта", (Pomyani chorta, on i poyavitsya) translated as "Speak of the devil (and there he is)."
- SerbianSerbian languageSerbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
: "Ми о вуку, (вук на врата)", (Mi o vuku, vuk na vrata) translated as "Speak of the wolf (and the wolf [is] at the door)." - ShonaShona languageShona is a Bantu language, native to the Shona people of Zimbabwe and southern Zambia; the term is also used to identify peoples who speak one of the Shona language dialects: Zezuru, Karanga, Manyika, Ndau and Korekore...
: Madziro ane nzeve translated as "Walls have ears." - SlovakSlovak languageSlovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
: "Spomeň čerta/diabla ", translated to "Speak of the devil". The Czech version is used as well.
- Slovenian: "Mi o volku, (volk iz gozda)", translated as "Speak of the wolf (and the wolf comes from the forest)."
- SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
: "Hablando del rey de Roma" (literally "Speaking of the King of RomeKing of the RomansKing of the Romans was the title used by the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire following his election to the office by the princes of the Kingdom of Germany...
") is an equivalent, also an abbreviation, in this case of "Hablando del Rey de Roma, por la puerta asoma" (Speaking of the King of Rome, through the door he appears).
- SwedishSwedish languageSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
: "När man talar om trollen (så står de i farstun)", which translates to "When you speak of the trolls (they stand in the entrance hall)."
- ThaiThai languageThai , also known as Central Thai and Siamese, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Historical linguists have been unable to definitively...
: "ตายยากจริง ๆ" , literally meaning "How invulnerable he/she is"; for example "ตายยากจริง ๆ. พูดถึงก็มาทันที." ("Tai yak ching ching. Phut thueng ko ma than thi."), meaning "How invulnerable he/she is. Just have talked about him/her, and here he/she is".
- TurkishTurkish languageTurkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
: "İti an çomağı hazırla", which translates to "Speak of the dog, ready the stick."
- UkrainianUkrainian languageUkrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
: "Про вовка промовка, а вовк у хату", (Pro vovka promovka, a vovk u khatu) which translates to "A word about wolf, and wolf comes to a house"
- Urdu: "Shaitan ka naam liya or Shaitaan hazir", which translates to "uttered about satan and satan is here"
- VietnameseVietnamese languageVietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
: "Vừa nhắc Tào Tháo, Tào Tháo tới", which translates to "Speak of Tào Tháo and he appears immediately" (An adaptation of the Chinese proverb, Tào Tháo being the Vietnamese name of Cao CaoCao CaoCao Cao was a warlord and the penultimate chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty who rose to great power during the dynasty's final years. As one of the central figures of the Three Kingdoms period, he laid the foundations for what was to become the state of Cao Wei and was posthumously titled...
)
- YiddishYiddish languageYiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
: "A shod m'hot nisht geredt fun moshiach" which translates to "We should have talked about the Messiah," or "A shame we weren't talking about the Messiah." Another idiom: "Az men redt fun der malech, kumt der galech", which translates to "Talk about the angel, and here comes the priest."