本文和大家分享的英语口语表达是talk of the devil。在中文里面有句俗语—— “说曹操,曹操就到”,意思是“正当谈论某个人的时候,那个人就出现了”。在英语里面,talk of the devil有着同样的含义,只不过曹操变成了魔鬼。人们有时会把 “talk of the devil” 中的动词 “talk” 替换成 “speak”,即 “speak of the devil”,意思不变。
该表达由英国诗人塞缪尔·泰勒·柯勒律治(Samuel Taylor Coleridge,1772-1834年)首创,原文是:
Talk of the devil, and his horns appear.
- Talk of the devil; we were just talking about you.
说曹操,曹操就到!我们正说你呢。 - I can't believe Tom's leaving! Speak of the devil, here comes Tom.
真不敢相信汤姆要走了!说他,他就到了。汤姆来了。 - Kun broke up from his girlfriend – talk of the devil. Here she is! Have you been standing there for a long time?
琨和他女朋友分手了。说曹操,曹操就到。她在这里!你在这儿站很长时间了吗?