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Although the notion that the use of words has a power in itself is as intrinsic to the use of language as is breathing to life, the utterance, Speak of the devil....' has an illocutionary force that is necessarily independent of previous authority. The linguistic act creates the being in the act of
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In many cultures a different, dangerous, person or character is referenced in the phrase. In
Serbian, the phrase translates to, "Speak of the wolf and he is at your door." French translates it to "Speak of the wolf and you see its tail". In Scandinavia it's "When you speak of the trolls, they're in
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Nothrop Frye: Words with power: being a second study of "the Bible and literature" 1990, Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich in English - 1st ed. Austin, John L. How To Do Things with Words. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1975 ISBN
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A cognate of this phrase appears in the 15th century
Chinese novel
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utterance. This is a common-place in pre-scholastic societies.
191:"'Speak of the Devil' - the meaning and origin of this phrase"
26:"Talk of the devil" redirects here. For other uses, see
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162:as 说曹操，曹操到 or "Speak of Cao Cao, Cao Cao arrives".
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