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You are here: Home / Language / Where did the Phrase “Cheating the Devil” Come From and What Does it Mean?

Where did the Phrase “Cheating the Devil” Come From and What Does it Mean?

March 20, 2020 by Karen Hill

The first recorded instance of the phrase “cheating the devil” can be found in the Hebrew Talmud.

The devil offered a farmer two years of a flourishing harvest with the condition that the devil would get the crops grown underground for the first year, and those grown above the ground the following year.

During the devil’s below-the-soil year, the farmer grew wheat and barley.

In the above-the-soil year he grew carrots and turnips, and therefore cheated the devil.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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