Speak of the devil

Speak of the devil 意為「說起某人,某人就突然來到」,也就是「說曹操,曹操就到」。這成語是 “Speak of the Devil and he will appear.” 的縮略版,於中世紀出現在英格蘭,係用來告誡人們別直呼魔鬼、撒旦或惡靈的名諱,以免招致危險。在《哈利波特》系列電影中,只有哈利波特等少數最勇敢的人物才敢叫佛地魔的名字,其他人都不敢直呼佛地魔的名諱,也是基於相同的原因。

Talk of the devil 有時被用來取代 speak of the devil,前者係源自 1600 年代兩個頗為盛行的成語:”Talk of the Devil and he’s presently at your elbow.” 和 “Talk of the Devil and see his horns.”。雖然 speak of the devil 最初是因迷信而創造出來的告誡用語,但現在都用來表示談起某人時、某人就突然出現在你身旁 (at your elbow) 的巧合。

例句:

  • Well, well, well, speak of the devil, if it isn’t my old friend Patrick! (喲,喲,喲,說曹操,曹操就到,那不正是我的老朋友派崔克嗎!)
  • John: I haven’t seen Paul for weeks. (約翰:我已經好幾個禮拜沒有看到保羅了)
    Mary: Look, here comes Paul right now. (瑪麗:看,保羅來了)
    John: Well, talk of the devil. Hi, there. We were just talking about you. (約翰:喲,說曹操,曹操就到。嗨,你好。我們剛剛才談起你)
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