speak of the devil

English

Alternative forms

talk of the devil

Etymology

Ellipsis of speak of the devil and he shall appear, which can be traced back to “talk of the Devil, and he’s presently at your elbow”, attested in 1666. The idea behind this (namely, that mentioning a dangerous creature may cause it to appear) is found in many cultures around the world. Compare taboo avoidance (a related linguistic phenomenon).

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Phrase

speak of the devil

(idiomatic, humorous) An expression sometimes used when a person mentioned in the current conversation happens to arrive on the scene.

Translations

expression used when a person mentioned in the current conversation happens to arrive

Arabic: اُذْكُرْ غَائِبًا تَرَهُ (uḏkur ḡāʔiban tarahu, literally “mention an absent person, and you shall see him”)
South Levantine Arabic: ابن الحلال عند ذكره ببان (ʔibn il-ḥalāl ʕind zikro bibān, literally “the decent man appears with the mention (of his name)”), ذكرنا القط، أجا ينط (zakarna l-qoṭṭ, ʔaja ynoṭṭ, literally “we mentioned the cat and he came jumping”)
Azerbaijani: adını çək, qulağını bur (literally “name him, find him in the direction to which you turn your ear”)
Basque: otsoa aipatu, otsoa agertu (literally “the wolf [is] mentioned, the wolf appears”)
Bulgarian: говорим за вълка, а той в кошарата (govorim za vǎlka, a toj v košarata, literally “speaking about the wolf , and he is in the sheep pen”)
Catalan: parlant del rei de Roma, entra per la porta (literally “speak of the king of Rome, and he will come in through the door”), no es pot dir mal que no aparegui el animal
Chinese:
Mandarin: 說曹操，曹操到／说曹操，曹操到 (zh) (shuō Cáo Cāo, Cáo Cāo dào, literally “speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives”)
Czech: my o vlku a vlk za dveřmi, my o vlku a vlk za humny (literally “speak of the wolf and the wolf is behind the doors”)
Danish: når man taler om solen (literally “when you speak of the sun”)
Dutch: als je het over de duivel hebt, dan zie je zijn staart (literally “when you speak of the devil, you'll see his tail”)
Estonian: kus hundist juttu (literally “where speaking of the wolf”)
Finnish: siinä paha missä mainitaan (fi) (literally “there is the evil where it is mentioned”)
French: quand on parle du loup, on en voit la queue (fr) (literally “when you speak of the wolf, you see his tail”), quand on parle du loup (fr) (by ellipsis)
Friulian: tu fevelis dal diàul e vegnin fûr i cuars!
Georgian: ძაღლი ახსენე და ჯოხი ხელში დაიჭირეო (ʒaɣli axsene da ǯoxi xelši daič̣ireo)
German: wenn man vom Teufel spricht, dann kommt er, wenn man vom Teufel spricht, dann ist er nicht weit
Greek: κατά φωνή κι ο γάιδαρος (katá foní ki o gáidaros, literally “by voice, here is the donkey”)
Hebrew: מדברים על החמור, והחמור בא (medabrím al ha xamór, ve ha xamór ba, literally “speak of the donkey and the donkey comes”)
Hungarian: ne fesd az ördögöt a falra, mert megjelenik (literally “don't paint the devil on the wall, or he will appear”)
Icelandic: oft kemur illur, oft kemur illur þá um er rætt (is), oft kemur illur þá getið er, oft kemur góður þá getið er og illur þá um er rætt (literally “a good one often comes when mentioned and a bad one comes when spoken of”)
Indonesian: panjang umur (id)
Irish: tagann gach aon rud lena iomrá ach madadh rua agus marbhán
Italian: parli del diavolo e spuntano le corna (literally “talk about the devil, and the horns appear”)
Japanese: 噂をすれば (ja) (うわさをすれば, uwasa o sureba), 噂をすれば影 (ja) (うわさをすればかげ, uwasa o sureba kage), 噂をすれば影がさす (ja) (うわさをすればかげがさす, uwasa o sureba kage ga sasu)
Korean: 호랑이도 제 말 하면 온다 (ko) (horang'i-do je mal hamyeon onda)
Latin: lupus in fābulā (literally “the wolf in a story”), lupus in sermōne (literally “the wolf in a conversation”)
Lithuanian: vilką minim, vilkas čia (literally “you mention a wolf, the wolf is here”)
Macedonian: ни́е за во́лкот, во́лкот на́ врата (níe za vólkot, vólkot ná vrata)
Norwegian: snakke om sola, når man snakker om sola (literally “when you speak of the sun”)
Polish: o wilku mowa (pl), o wilku mowa, a wilk tu (pl) (literally “talk about the wolf, and he is almost here”)
Portuguese: falando do diabo(, aparece o rabo) (literally “when you speak of the devil (his tail will show up)”)
Romanian: vorbești de lup și lupul la ușă
Russian: лёгок на поми́не (ljógok na pomíne), про се́рого речь, а се́рый навстре́чь (pro sérovo rečʹ, a séryj navstréčʹ), о во́лке помо́лвка, а волк и тут (o vólke pomólvka, a volk i tut)
Scottish Gaelic: thig an donas ri iomradh
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ми о вуку, ми о вуку а вук на врата

Roman: mi o vuku, mi o vuku a vuk na vrata (literally “we mention the wolf, and he enters the door”)
Slovenian: ti o volku volk iz gozda (literally “we [speak] of the wolf, the wolf [comes] from the forest”)
Spanish: habla del rey de Roma, y asoma (literally “speak of the king of Rome, and he surprises you”), hablando del rey de Roma (es)
Swedish: tala om trollen, när man talar om trollen (sv) (literally “when talking about the trolls”)
Thai: ตายยาก
Turkish: iti an, çomağı hazırla
Ukrainian: про вовка промовка (pro vovka promovka, literally “speaking of the wolf”)
Uzbek: boʻrini gapirsang qulogʻi koʻrinadi (literally “if you speak of the wolf, his ear will shown”)
Welsh: sonier am ddiawl, fe ymddengys y cythraul
Yiddish: מע זאָל נאָר דערמאָנען משיחן (me zol nor dermonen meshiekhn)
Zazaki: merdım yeno qısey ser