speak of the devil

Etymology
, which can be traced back to “talk of the Devil, and he’s presently at your elbow”, attested in 1666. The idea behind this (namely, that mentioning a dangerous creature may cause it to appear) is found in many cultures around the world. Compare taboo avoidance (a related linguistic phenomenon).

Translations

 * Arabic: اُذْكُرْ غَائِبًا تَرَهُ
 * South Levantine Arabic: ابن الحلال عند ذكره ببان, ذكرنا القط، أجا ينط
 * Azerbaijani: adını çək, qulağını bur
 * Basque: otsoa aipatu, otsoa agertu
 * Bulgarian: говорим за вълка, а той в кошарата
 * Catalan: parlant del rei de Roma, entra per la porta, no es pot dir mal que no aparegui el animal
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:
 * Czech: my o vlku a vlk za dveřmi, my o vlku a vlk za humny
 * Danish: når man taler om solen
 * Dutch: als je het over de duivel hebt, dan zie je zijn staart
 * Estonian: kus hundist juttu
 * Finnish:
 * French: ,
 * Friulian: tu fevelis dal diàul e vegnin fûr i cuars!
 * Georgian: ძაღლი ახსენე და ჯოხი ხელში დაიჭირეო
 * German: wenn man vom Teufel spricht, dann kommt er, wenn man vom Teufel spricht, dann ist er nicht weit
 * Greek: κατά φωνή κι ο γάιδαρος
 * Hebrew: מדברים על החמור, והחמור בא
 * Hungarian: ne fesd az ördögöt a falra, mert megjelenik
 * Icelandic: oft kemur illur,, oft kemur illur þá getið er, oft kemur góður þá getið er og illur þá um er rætt
 * Indonesian:
 * Irish: tagann gach aon rud lena iomrá ach madadh rua agus marbhán
 * Italian: parli del diavolo e spuntano le corna
 * Japanese:, ,
 * Korean:
 * Latin: lupus in fābulā, lupus in sermōne
 * Lithuanian: vilką minim, vilkas čia
 * Macedonian: ни́е за во́лкот, во́лкот на́ врата
 * Norwegian: snakke om sola, når man snakker om sola
 * Polish: ,
 * Portuguese: falando do diabo(, aparece o rabo)
 * Romanian: vorbești de lup și lupul la ușă
 * Russian: лёгок на поми́не, про се́рого речь, а се́рый навстре́чь, о во́лке помо́лвка, а волк и тут
 * Scottish Gaelic: thig an donas ri iomradh
 * Serbo-Croatian:
 * Cyrillic: ми о вуку, ми о вуку а вук на врата
 * Roman: mi o vuku, mi o vuku a vuk na vrata
 * Slovenian: ti o volku volk iz gozda
 * Spanish: habla del rey de Roma, y asoma,
 * Swedish: tala om trollen,
 * Thai: ตายยาก
 * Turkish: iti an, çomağı hazırla
 * Ukrainian: про вовка промовка
 * Uzbek: boʻrini gapirsang qulogʻi koʻrinadi
 * Welsh: sonier am ddiawl, fe ymddengys y cythraul
 * Yiddish: מע זאָל נאָר דערמאָנען משיחן
 * Zazaki: merdım yeno qısey ser