What, Who, When, Where, or How the Devil, phr. (common).—An expletive
of wonder, vexation, etc.
b. 1688, d. 1744. Pope [quoted in Annandale]. The things we know
are neither rich nor rare; But wonder how the devil they got there.
1776. David Garrick, Bon Ton, or High Life Above Stairs, Act ii.,
Sc. 1. Sir T. Why, what the devil do you make one at these
masqueradings.
1780. Mrs. Cowley, The Belle’s Stratagem, Act i., Sc. 3. Har. Who
the devil could have foreseen that?
1827. R. B. Peake, Comfortable Lodgings, Act i, Sc. 3. What the
devil is all this about?
1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge [Ry. ed. 1860], p. 134.
How the devil can you get anything out of an empty vessel?
To play the devil with, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To ruin or molest.
1821. Egan, Tom and Jerry, p. 46. The passions, as I’ve said, are
far from evil, But if not well confined they play the devil.
To pull the devil by the tail, phr. (colloquial).—To go to ruin
headlong; also to be reduced to one’s last shift. Cf., To play the
devil with.
1890. European Mail, 2 Aug., p. 30, col. 2. The immense
disproportion between the solid assets and the liabilities of the
enterprise made experienced Parisian financiers say from the first
that the company was pulling the devil by the tail, and a perusal
of M. Monchicourt’s report must confirm this view.
To whip the devil round the stump, verb. phr. (American).—To enjoy the
sweets of wickedness and yet escape the penalty.
1857. New York Evening Post. While Mr. Jones is describing his
wants in the money line, and telling the president how near through
he is, that officer is carrying on a mental addition it may be
after this manner: Jones, you’re a clever fellow, but Smith tells
me you are engaged in a coal-stock operation. I have heard also
that you have been dabbling in Erie. There is a want of candor now,
I perceive, in the statement of your affairs. There, you are now
whipping the devil around the stump: I see his foot.
1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 187. Nor is the slang phrase: to
whip the devil around the stump to be traced very clearly to the
backwoods.
1872. Haldeman, Pennsylvania Dutch. I whipped the devil round the
stump, And gave a cut at every jump.
Haul devil, pull baker, phr. (colloquial).—To contend with varying
fortunes. In the sense of endeavouring to overreach, a variant is
diamond cut diamond.
1889. Cornhill Mag., July, p. 99. I can’t get proper accounts from
her; and it’s a regular case of pull devil, pull baker, whenever I
want to look at the trades-people’s books.
And the devil knows what or who, phr. (colloquial).—A term used vaguely
and indefinitely to include details not specifically mentioned or
known.
1717. Mrs. Centlivre, A Bold Stroke for a Wife, Act iii., Sc. 1.
Per. Why, what a pack of trumpery has this rogue picked up! His
pagod, poluflosboio, his zonos moros musphonons, and the devil
knows what.
To go to the devil, phr. (colloquial).—To go to rack and ruin. Go to
the devil! = begone! A summary form of dismissal with no heed as to
what may become of the person who is sent about his business.
1801. T. Dibdin, The Birthday, Act i., Sc. 2. Capt. Hold your
tongue, Junk; you are a libellous rascal. You, and your box, too,
may go to the devil.
To hold a light or candle to, or burn a candle before, the devil, phr.
(colloquial).—To propitiate through fear; to assist or wink at wrong
doing. Shakspeare (Merchant of Venice, Act ii., Sc. 6), employs ‘What!
must I hold a candle to my shame,’ in much the same sense. [From the
practice of burning candles before the images of saints, etc.]. Not fit
to hold a candle to the devil = a simile of inferiority. To hold a
candle to another = to assist in, occupy a subordinate position, or
(see quot., 1859) to compare to another.
c. 1461. In Paston Letters, II., 73 (ed. Gairdner). For it is a
common proverbe, ‘A man must sumtyme set a candel befor the
Devyle;’ and therefor thow it be not alder most mede and
profytabyl, yet if ij harmys the leste is to be take.
1557. Tusser, Husbandrie, p. 148. Though not for hope of good, Yet
for the feare of euill, Thou maist find ease so proffering up a
candell to the deuill.
1672. Wycherley, Love in a Wood, I., i., wks. (1713), 346. You
cannot hold a candle to the devil.
1705. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus, vol. I., pt. III., p. 17. To hold a
candle to the devil, Is not the means to stop this evil.
1828. Scott, Fair Maid of Perth, ii., 213. Here have I been holding
a candle to the devil, to show him the way to mischief.
1859. H. Kingsley, Geoffrey Hamlyn, ch. xxxii. A Frenchman is
conceited enough, but, by George, he can’t hold a candle to a
Scotchman.
The devil, or the devil and all to pay, phr. (colloquial).—A simile of
fruitless effort; awkward consequences to be faced. [Nautical:
originally, ‘There’s the devil to pay and no pitch hot’; the ‘devil’
being any seam in a vessel, awkward to caulk, or in sailors’ language
‘to pay.’ Hence by confusion the deuce to pay (q.v.).]
1711. Swift, Journal to Stella, 28 Sept. Letter 31. And then there
will be the devil and all to pay.
1761. Colman, Jealous Wife, III., in wks. (1777), i., 69. There’s
the devil to pay in meddling with them.
1762. Foote, Liar, iii., 3. Sir, here has been the devil to pay
within.
1836. Michael Scott, Cruise of the Midge. [Ry. ed. 1860], p. 127.
Here was the devil to pay with a vengeance.
1837. R. H. Barham, The Ingoldsby Legends. The Execution (ed.
1862), p. 198. Hollo! Hollo! Here’s a rum go. Why, Captain!—My
Lord!—Here’s the devil to pay!—The fellow’s been cut down and taken
away!
1866. G. Eliot, Felix Holt, ch. xxi. He made a fool of himself with
marrying at Vesoul; and there was the devil to pay with the girl’s
relations.
Talk of the devil and you’ll see his horns or tail, phr.
(colloquial).—Said of a person who, being the subject of conversation,
unexpectedly makes an appearance. Fr., parlez des anges et vous en
voyez les ailes.
b. 1664, d. 1721. M. Prior. Hans Carvel. Since therefore ’tis to
combat evil, ’Tis lawful to employ the Devil, Forthwith the Devil
did appear, For name him and he’s always near.
Devil-may-care, adj. (colloquial).—Rollicking; reckless; rash.
1822–36. Jno. Wilson, Noctes Amb. I., 274. [The shepherd has thrown
back to the fire a live coal.] Belyve the blisters’ll be rising
like foam-bells; but deil may care.
1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xlix., p. 428. He was a mighty free
and easy, roving, devil-may-care sort of person, was my Uncle,
gentlemen.
1839. Lever, Harry Lorrequer, ch. xii. There was also a certain
devil-may-care recklessness about the self-satisfied swagger of his
gait.
1849. Albert Smith, in Gabarni in London (Acrobats). Unsettled,
wandering, and devil-may-care as his disposition may be, he cannot
be called idle.
1863. Hon. Mrs. Norton, Lost and Saved, p. 33. Treherne had a hot
twinge of doubt, in spite of his devil-may-care style of writing,
whether Lewellyn would answer him at all.
1865. Punch, vol. XLVIII., p. 106. Fechter’s acting [as Robert
Macaire] in The Roadside Inn may be described as the devil-may-care
style.
Devil take, or fetch, or send, or snatch, or fly away with, you, me,
him! etc., phr. (colloquial).—An imprecation of impatience. Fr., le
boulanger t’entrolle en son pasclin.
1837. R. H. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (ed. 1862), p. 339. Don’t use
naughty words, in the next place, and ne’er in your language adopt
a bad habit of swearin’. Never say, ‘Devil take me,’ or ‘shake me,’
or ‘bake me,’ or such-like expressions. Remember Old Nick, To take
folks at their word, is remarkably quick.
There’s the devil among the tailors, phr. (common).—A row is going on.
[Edwards:—Originating in a riot at the Haymarket when Dowton announced
the performance for his benefit, of a burlesque entitled ‘The Tailors:
a Tragedy for Warm Weather.’ Many thousands of journeymen tailors
congregated, and interrupted the performances. Thirty-three were
brought up at Bow Street next day.—See Biographica Dramatica under
‘Tailors.’]
When the devil is blind, adv. phr. (colloquial).—Never, i.e., in a
month of Sundays; said of anything unlikely to happen. For synonyms,
see Greek Kalends.
Devil Dodger, subs. (common).—A clergyman. Also, by implication, anyone
of a religious turn of mind.
English Synonyms.—Devil catcher, driver, pitcher, or scolder; snub
devil; bible pounder; duck that grinds the gospel mill; commister;
camister; sky-pilot; chimney-sweep; rat; rum (Johnson); pantiler;
cushion smiter, duster, or thumper; couple, or buckle, beggar; rook;
gospel grinder; earwig; one-in-ten (tramps’ = a tithe-monger);
finger-post; parish prig; parish bull; holy Joe; green apron; black
cattle (collectively); crow; the cloth (collectively); white choker;
patrico; black coat; black fly; glue pot; gospel postillion; prunella;
pudding-sleeves; puzzle-text; schism-monger; cod; Black Brunswicker;
spiritual flesh-broker; head-clerk of the Doxology Works; Lady Green;
fire-escape; gospel sharp; padre (Anglo-Indian); pound-text.
French Synonyms.—Un radicon (thieves’); un otage (popular: = hostage,
in allusion to events under the Commune of 1871); un radis noir
(familiar: also a police officer. In allusion to ‘the cloth’); un
ratichon (pop. from ratissé, rasé = shaved); un sanglier (thieves’: a
wild boar, but also a play upon words sans without, + glier, the
infernal regions); un raze or razi (thieves’); un rochet (thieves’: a
surplice); un pante en robe (thieves’: ‘a cove in a gown,’ also a
judge); un chasublard (popular); une calotte (fam.: le régiment de la
calotte = the skull-cap brigade, i.e., the company of the Society of
Jesus); un corbeau (pop.: = crow); un couac (popular); un babillard
(thieves’: especially a confessor, a ‘blab-monger’); un bichot (a
bishop); une enseigne de cimetière (‘a cemetery signpost.’ Cf.,
sky-pilot and finger-post); un bâton de réglisse (thieves’: = a stick
of liquorice. Also a police-officer); un barbichon (popular: a
preaching friar. From barbe = beard, in allusion to the long beard
characteristic of the order).
German Synonyms.—Herrle (especially applied to Catholic priests).
Lefranz or Lefrenz (a transposition of Franzle or Fränzle = the
Franciscan. Liber Vagatorum Lefrenzin, = a priest’s harlot, still
popular in N. Germany); Schocherer (from Hebrew schochar = black. Cf.,
analogous English terms); Schwarzfärber (Schwarz = black; Färber = a
dyer).
Italian Synonyms.—Chiodrino; capellano rosso (a cardinal; ‘a red
chaplain’); farfoio (= a monk; farfoia, a nun); rossignolo (= ‘a
nightingale’); pisto or pistolfo (Michel: ‘parce qu’il suit le condamné
à la piste’).
Spanish Synonym.—Cleriguillo (= a little cleric: both insult and
endearment).
1791. Lackington, Memoirs, Letter vi. [ed. 1803]. These
devil-dodgers happened to be so very powerful (that is, noisy) that
they soon sent John home, crying out he should be damn’d.
1889. Cornhill Mag., Jan., p. 50. He’s just a kind of a fine-haired
cuss—a gambler, or a devil-dodger. I reckon ... I’m open ter bet
he’s a preacher.
Devil-Drawer, subs. (old).—An indifferent artist.
Devilish, adv. (colloquial).—Used intensitively. Cf., Awfully, and
Beastly.
1755. The World, No. 140. How arbitrary is language! and how does
the custom of mankind join words, that reason has put asunder. Thus
we often hear of hell-fire cold, of devilish handsome, and the
like.
1780. Mrs. Cowley, The Belle’s Stratagem, iii., 1. I tell you, sir,
that, for all that, she’s dev’lish sensible.
1871. Sir M. Lopez, Speech on Army Bill, H. of C., 3 July. It was
devilish hard—he meant very hard—to lay it.
Devil’s Bed-posts, or Devil’s Four-poster, subs. phr. (cards’).—The
four of clubs; held as an unlucky ‘turn-up.’
1879. J. C. J., in N. and Q., 5 S., xii., 473. In London I have
always heard the four of clubs called the devil’s bedpost, and also
that it is the worst turn-up one could have.
Devil’s-Bones, subs. (old).—Dice; also Devil’s teeth. Cf., Devil’s
books.
1664. Etherege, Comical Revenge, II., iii., in wks. (1704), 27. I
do not understand dice: I understand good pasture and drink—hang
the devil’s bones.
1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxiii. A gamester, one who
deals with the devil’s bones and the doctors.
Devil’s-Books, subs. (common).—Cards. [Of Presbyterian origin; in
reproof of a synonymous term—King’s Books, or more fully, The History
of the Four Kings (Fr., livre des quatre rois).] Also Books of Briefs
(Fr., la cartouchière à portées).
1729. Swift, Intelligencer, No. 4, p. 43 (2nd ed.). Cards are the
devil’s own invention, for which reason, time out of mind, they are
and have been called the devil’s books.
18(?). Thackeray, Character Sketches (Capt. Rook and Mr. Pigeon). I
often think that the devil’s books, as cards are called, are let out to
us from Old Nick’s circulating library.
Devil’s-Claws, subs. (thieves’).—The broad arrow on convicts’ uniforms.
Devil’s-Colours or Livery, subs. (common).—Black and yellow.
Devil’s-Daughter, subs. (common).—A shrew.
Devil’s-Delight. To kick up the devil’s delight, verbal phr.
(common).—To make a disturbance.
1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. xv. His wives, five or
six on ’em, was yowlin’, and cryin’, and kickin’ up the devil’s
delight.
1863. Chas. Reade, Hard Cash, I., 278. Well then, speak quick, both
of you, said Sharpe, or I’ll lay ye both by the heels. Ye black
scoundrels, what business have you in the Captain’s cabin, kicking
up the devil’s delight?
Devil’s-Dozen, subs. (old).—Thirteen; the original baker’s-dozen
(q.v.). [From the number of witches supposed to sit down together at a
‘Sabbath.’ In Fr. le boulanger (the baker) = the devil.]
Devil’s-Dung, subs. (old).—Asafœtida: the old pharmaceutical name.
[From the smell.] Now recognised.
1604. Dekker, Honest Wh., in wks. (1873), ii. 40. Fust. The divel’s
dung in thy teeth: I’ll be welcome whether thou wilt or no.
1759. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, vol. VIII., ch. xi. ’Tis all pepper,
garlic, staragen, salt, and devil’s dung.
1804. C. K. Sharpe, in Correspondence (1888), i. 203. I devoured
loads of devil’s dung rounded into pills.
Devil’s-dust, subs. (trade).—1. Old cloth shredded for re-manufacture.
[In allusion both to the swindle and to the ‘dust’ or ‘flock’ produced
by the disintegrating machine which is called a ‘devil.’ The practice
and the name are old. Latimer, in one of his sermons before Edward the
Sixth, treating of trade rascality, remarked that manufacturers could
stretch cloth seventeen yards long, into a length of seven-and-twenty
yards: ‘When they have brought him to that perfection,’ he continues,
‘they have a pretty feat to thick him again. He makes me a powder for
it, and plays the pothicary. They call it flock-powder, they do so
incorporate it to the cloth, that it is wonderful to consider; truly a
good invention. Oh that so goodly wits should be so applied; they may
well deceive the people, but they cannot deceive God. They were wont to
make beds of flocks, and it was a good bed too. Now they have turned
their flocks into powder, to play the false thieves with it.’
Popularised by Mr. Ferrand in a speech before the House of Commons,
March 4, 1842 (Hansard, 3 S, lxi., p. 140) when he tore a piece of
cloth made from devil’s dust, into shreds to prove its worthlessness.]
Also Shoddy (q.v.).
1840. Carlyle, Misc., iv., 239. Does it beseem thee to weave cloth
of devil’s dust instead of true wool, and cut and sew it as if
those wert not a tailor but the fraction of a very tailor?
1851. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, II., p. 30.
1864. Times, 2 Nov. It is not many years since Mr. Ferrand
denounced the devil’s dust of the Yorkshire woollen manufacturers;
this devil’s dust arises from the grand translation of old cloth
into new.