Speak of就是說到,devil是魔鬼。Speak of the devil 的字面意思是:說到魔鬼。作為一個習慣用語,它也就是中文裏所說的「說到曹操,曹操就到」。 

下面我們來看一個例句。有幾個朋友約好了一起去吃飯,可是其中一個遲遲不到。有一個人等得不耐煩,他說: 

例句:It's bad manners of John to keep us waiting. He's never on time. Look at the clock. He's already twenty-five minutes late. Shall we go? Oh, speak of the devil, here he is now. 

這個人說:「 John 讓我們這麼等,真是沒有禮貌。他從來都不準時。看看那鐘吧!他已經晚了25分鐘了。我們要不就走吧?噢!他來了,真是說到曹操,曹操就到。」 

Speak of the devil在剛才那個例句裏是貶義的,但是,實際上它褒貶的意思都有。speak of the devil跟魔鬼沒有關係,不過,這個習慣用語的來源卻和魔鬼有關。 

Speak of the devil是在18世紀初開始流行的。當時有一種迷信的說法,就是:speak of the devil and he's sure to appear。如果你說到魔鬼,魔鬼就一定會現身。對,後來就簡化成:speak of the devil。(美國之音)◇

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