speak of the devil
An expression sometimes used when a person mentioned in the current conversation…An expression sometimes used when a person mentioned in the current conversation happens to arrive on the scene.
Meaning
1 senses(humorous, idiomatic)An expression sometimes used when a person mentioned in the current conversation happens to arrive on the scene.
A: You know who would appreciate this? Tom. B: Speak of the devil! Look who just walked in!
wenn man vom Teufel spricht, dann kommt er, wenn man vom Teufel spricht, dann ist er nicht weit
лёгок на поми́неljógok na pomíne, про се́рого речь, а се́рый навстре́чьpro sérovo rečʹ, a séryj navstréčʹ, о во́лке помо́лвка, а волк и тутo vólke pomólvka, a volk i tut
Examples
16 sentencesSpeak of the devil, and he appears.
Про вовка промовка. — deniko
Speak of the devil.
Про вовка промовка. — deniko
ruО волке речь, а он навстречь. — Imp
deWenn man vom Teufel spricht. — Sudajaengi
Speak of the devil and he appears.
Speak of the Devil and he shall appear.
Про вовка й промовка. — deniko
Speak of the devil! I was just about to call you.
Translations
8 languagesOrigin
Ellipsis of speak of the devil and he shall appear, which can be traced back to “talk of tEllipsis 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; see taboo avoidance.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.