April 3, 2020
"'Speak of the devil' is the short form of the English-language idiom 'Speak of the devil and he doth appear'..."
Says Wikipedia, in an article I'd say more about, but I've blogged it in the past — here, just last August. "It is used when an object of discussion unexpectedly becomes present during the conversation." I didn't say back then what had happened that got me thinking of that saying, and I won't say this time either. But it's weird when you say the name of a person you haven't seen around or even mentioned in years and he shows up the same day.
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shuo Cao Cao, Cao Cao dao is the equivalent in Mandarin: "say Cao Cao's name and Cao Cao is there". In Chinese literature he is a more Machiavellian than Mephistophelean but the sense is very close.
For the ancient Romans, the phrase was "Hannibal ante portas"--Hannibal's at the gates (literally Hannibal before the gates).
“By the pricking of my thumbs something wicked this way comes.”
That's a theory of reference. A word makes a picture of the thing appear in the mind.
Speak of the devil, Beezlebub seems to be very busy at the moment.
My favorite story about the Prince of Darkness is Isaac Bashevis Singer's The Gentleman from Cracow.
The supernatural was commonly known to most humans until the last few generations.
Was it Sean Ono Lennon?
https://twitter.com/seanonolennon/status/1245571361742794753
We always said “and lo, he appears."
Speak for thy self atheist.
I set out running but I take my time
A friend of the Devil is a friend of mine.
Which that song doesn't have anything to do with this post, really, but it made me think of it and now it will probably be in my head all day (maybe it will chase away Country Roads, which has been stuck there for awhile now thanks to Althouse).
If I get home before daylight
Just might get some sleep tonight.
"I didn't say back then what had happened that got me thinking of that saying, and I won't say this time either. But it's weird when you say the name of a person you haven't seen around or even mentioned in years and he shows up the same day."
What a tease. Does this make the post click bait?
Speak of the devil.
Sounds like something Joe Biden would say.
“The devil you say!”
He who shall not be named!
There are a lot of superstitions around names and naming and taboo and magical names.
The Navajo Times had a half-page article, "Medicine men: Change the Dine name for the virus", claiming that the WuFlu will continues to spread and cause panic if Navajos, and the IHS, keep using the name "Diko Ntsaaigii" - "Modern and traditional prayers won't work with 'Diko Ntsaaigi'", so they should instead call it "Naalniihii Doo Yit'jjnii Ch'osh" because the virus is an intelligent, spiritual being. (Mar 26, pg A6, Print edition - they seem to omit the bizarre "Indians only" content from the online version.)
I think Kahneman and Tversky might call this an availability heuristic: we don’t remember all the times we mention people who don’t show up.
Kahneman's availability heuristic or Jung's synchronicity? "science" vs mysticism? I know which I would rather see.
“There are a lot of superstitions around names and naming and taboo and magical names.”
In the beginning, there was the word.
"There isn’t very much noise anymore, and the second I started to type that sentence a plane went overhead. This is the third time that’s happened. I’m starting to think I can summon them by typing."
One thing’s for sure: if you’re waiting for a phone call, all you have to do is jump in the shower.
"In the beginning, there was the word." And the "word" is merely a sound that stands for an idea. So maybe all of Reality is an idea.
Philosophical thought for the day.
"In the beginning, there was the word." And the "word" is merely a sound that stands for an idea. So maybe all of Reality is an idea.
Philosophical thought for the day.
Mtrobertslaw: nicely put. If the word comes first is it what precipitated the fall?
It's fascinating how many other languages have variations on the same idiom, but (no surprise) the Yiddish is funniest:
"We should have talked about the Messiah."
"Idiom's Delight" by Suzanne Brock is highly recommended.
It's fascinating how many other languages have variations on the same idiom, but (no surprise) the Yiddish is funniest:
"We should have talked about the Messiah."
"Idiom's Delight" by Suzanne Brock is highly recommended.
I learned this from the underrated movie "Malice" with Alec Baldwin. He completes the quote in an elevator exchange; I don't think I had heard the rest of that quote ever before watching that movie.
HE??? Seriously??? SEXIST
There's a truth to "Speak of the devil and he doth appear," that has nothing to do with coincidence. Yes, our common parlance has reduced the old observation to something trivial, but its real meaning -- which seems to me to include the sharing of guilt and sin -- is much deeper and more interesting.
In Spanish: Hablando del Rey de Roma, y quien se aroma.
French: Quand on parle du loup, on en voit la queue. Speak of the wolf and you'll see his tail. Like this image a little better, with the implication he's been lurking around the corner the whole time. But it seems to be used in the same sense as the English expression when the subject of conversation appears by surprise.
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