speak of the devil

English

Alternative forms

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

(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 ḡāʾiban tarahu) (Mention an absent person, and you shall see him)
Bulgarian: говорим за вълка, а той в кошарата (govorim za vǎlka, a toj v košarata)
Catalan: parlant del rei de Roma, entra per la porta, no es pot dir mal que no aparegui el animal
Chinese:
Mandarin: 說曹操，曹操到 (zh), 说曹操，曹操到 (zh) (shuō Cáo Cāo, Cáo Cāo dào)
Czech: my o vlku a vlk za dveřmi, my o vlku a vlk za humny (speak of the wolf and the wolf is behind the doors)
Danish: når man taler om solen (when you speak of the sun)
Dutch: als je het over de duivel hebt, dan zie je zijn staart
Estonian: kus hundist juttu
Finnish: siinä paha missä mainitaan
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
Greek: κατά φωνή κι ο γάιδαρος (katá foní ki o gáidaros)
Hebrew: מדברים על החמור, והחמור בא‎ (medabrím al ha xamór, ve ha xamór ba)
Icelandic: oft kemur illur, oft kemur illur þá um er rætt (is), oft kemur illur þá getið er, (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
Indonesian: panjang umur (id)
Irish: tagann gach aon rud lena iomrá ach madadh rua agus marbhán
Italian: parli del diavolo e spuntano le corna

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-ido je mal hamyeon onda)
Latin: lupus in fābulā (the wolf in a story), lupus in sermōne (the wolf in a conversation)
Macedonian: ни́е за во́лкот, во́лкот на́ врата (níe za vólkot, vólkot ná vrata)
Norwegian: snakke om sola, når man snakker om sola
Polish: o wilku mowa (pl), o wilku mowa, a wilk tu (pl)
Portuguese: falando do diabo
Russian: лёгок на поми́не (ru) (ljógok na pomíne), про се́рого речь, а се́рый навстре́чь (pro sérovo rečʹ, a séryj navstréčʹ)
Scottish Gaelic: thig an donas ri iomradh
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ми о вуку

Roman: mi o vuku
Spanish: hablando del rey de Roma, por la puerta asoma
Swedish: tala om trollen, när man talar om trollen (sv)
Thai: ตายยาก
Turkish: iti an, çomağı hazırla
Welsh: sonier am ddiawl, fe ymddengys y cythraul
Zazaki: merdım yeno qısey ser