The Devil
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
The sign of more than one old public-house in the neighbourhood of Fleet
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Examples
The devil destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.Ác quỷ đã phá hủy Hiroshima và Nagasaki.
What the devil were you doing?Cậu đã làm điều gì mờ ám vậy?
Tatoeba sentence #49677 (CC BY 2.0 FR, tatoeba.org, retrieved 2026-07-31)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “The Devil” mean?
The sign of more than one old public-house in the neighbourhood of Fleet
Is “The Devil” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.