People feel 'duped' after learning full version of phrase 'speak of the devil'

shocked man checking smartphone sitting on a sofa at home
-Credit: (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)


It turns out there is more to this common saying - and it's left people mind blown.

Brits love to drop an expression or two in their casual conversation, which can be pretty confusing for those who don't speak English as their first language. Terms like 'when life gives you lemons' and 'when in Rome' are peppered into our everyday talk so much we often shorten them - but this often skews their original meaning.

For example, if you've ever said 'curiosity killed the cat' when your mate won't stop asking you questions - did you know the full idiom actually ends with 'but the answer brought him back'.

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Taking to TikTok, user Grapie expressed her intrigue in the linguistic phenomenon. Her video quickly went viral, attracting a whopping 654,000 views and 141,000 likes.

"What is it called when you're able to say a certain phrase or a common saying but like only say the first half of it because it's so well known," she asked. "Like when you see people being shady with their friends and you're like 'well birds of a feather' because it's common knowledge that the rest is 'flock together' but you don't need to say 'flock together'."

Swathes of viewers flocked to the comments section to give their examples, with one person highlighting the phrase 'speak of the devil' is an abbreviation of 'speak of the devil and he shall appear'.

Used when you're speaking about someone and then they suddenly seem to appear, the phrase was heavily used in the 17th century when many people were superstitious about saying the devil's name (Lucifer, Satan, Prince of Darkness etc) out loud.

The revelation shocked hundreds of users, with one person declaring: "I'VE BEEN DUPPED! Why is this my first time hearing about this?" Another agreed, commenting: "STOP THAT'S SCARY." A third added: "That line makes it SO tuff tho [sic] wtf!" while a fourth penned: "This is my first time learning about this."