Idiom
speak of the devil
Meaning
An expression sometimes used when a person mentioned in the current conversation happens to arrive on the scene.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“Speak of the devil — here's Tom now!”
“We were just talking about you, and — speak of the devil — you walked in.”
“I had just told my colleagues how much I admired the new director when, speak of the devil, she appeared in the doorway.”
Examples
simple
“Speak of the devil — here's Tom now!”
contextual
“We were just talking about you, and — speak of the devil — you walked in.”
complex
“I had just told my colleagues how much I admired the new director when, speak of the devil, she appeared in the doorway.”
Origin
Shortened from the 17th-century superstition 'Speak of the Devil and he shall appear', a warning against naming the devil lest you summon him.
Key words
Related idioms
- Level
- B1 · Intermediate
- Updated