speak of the devil

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• speak of the devil and he appears
• talk of the devil

Etymology

Variation 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.

Phrase

speak of the devil

1. (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

• Bulgarian: Говорим за вълка, а той в кошарата (Govorim za vălka, a toj v košarata)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 說曹操，曹操到 (cmn), 说曹操，曹操到 (cmn) (shuō Cáo Cāo, Cáo Cāo dào)

• Czech: my o vlku a vlk za dveřmi (cs), my o vlku a vlk za humny (cs) (speak of the wolf and the wolf is behind the doors)
• Dutch: Als je het over de duivel hebt, dan zie je zijn staart
• Finnish: siinä paha missä mainitaan (fi)
• French: quand on parle du loup (on en voit la queue) (when you speak of the wolf (you'll see his tail))
• German: Wenn man vom Teufel spricht, dann kommt er
• Icelandic: oft kemur illur (is), oft kemur illur þá um er rætt (is), oft kemur illur þá getið er (is), (a good one often comes when mentioned and a bad one comes when spoken of) oft kemur góður þá getið er og illur þá um er rætt (is)

• Indonesian: panjang umur (id)
• Italian: parli del diavolo (e spuntano le corna)
• Japanese: うわさをすれば, 噂をすれば (uwasa o sureba), うわさをすれば影, 噂をすれば影 (uwasa o sureba kage), うわさをすれば影がさす, 噂をすれば影がさす (uwasa o sureba kage ga sasu)
• Korean: 호랑이도 제 말하면 온다 (ko) (horangi do je malhamyeon onda)
• Latin: (the wolf in a story) lupus in fābulā (la), (the wolf in a conversation) lupus in sermōne (la)
• Macedonian: ние за волкот, волкот на врата (nìe za vòlkot, vòlkot nà vrata)
• Portuguese: falando do diabo (pt)
• Russian: лёгок на помине, про серого речь, а серый навстречь
• Scottish Gaelic: thig an donas ri iomradh
• Serbo-Croatian: ми о вуку (sh) (mi o vuku)
• Spanish: hablando del rey de Roma, por la puerta asoma
• Swedish: tala om trollen (sv)
• Welsh: sonier am ddiawl, fe ymddengys y cythraul (cy)