The devil is in the details

Last updated

"The devil is in the details" is an idiom alluding to a catch or mysterious element hidden in the details; [1] it indicates that "something may seem simple, but in fact the details are complicated and likely to cause problems". [2] It comes from the earlier phrase "God is in the details", expressing the idea that whatever one does should be done thoroughly; that is, details are important. [1]

Contents

Origin

The idiom "God is in the details" has been attributed to a number of people, most notably to the German-born architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969) by The New York Times in Mies's 1969 obituary; however, it is generally accepted not to have originated with him. A German version, Der liebe Gott steckt im Detail, is widely attributed to the German art historian Aby Warburg (1866–1929). According to Christopher Johnson, Der liebe Gott steckt im Detail was the subtitle of a seminar Warburg taught at the University of Hamburg in the winter of 1925-26. [3] A French version of the saying, "Le bon Dieu est dans le détail" (literally "the good God is in the detail") is generally attributed to Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880). [1] The expression "the devil is in the details" is found in a 1963 history of post-war European integration. [4] It is later attested in 1965. [5] In 1969, it is referred to as an existing proverb. [6] Bartlett's Familiar Quotations lists the saying's author as anonymous. [7] An editorial in the 1989 New York Times reflected on the apparent interchangeability of God and the Devil in the phrase, citing various examples in print at the time; as well as the difficulty of determining which came first and how long either one has been in use. [8]

Variants

The phrase has several variants: (the/a) Devil (is) in the detail(s). The original expression as, "God is in the detail" with the word detail being singular, colloquial usage often ends the idiom as details plural; where the word detail without an s can be used as both a singular and collective noun. [9]

When referring to the finer points of legislation, the former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi observed, "The devil and the angels are in the details." [10]

More recently, the expressions "governing is in the details" and "the truth, if it exists, is in the details" have appeared. [1]

Related Research Articles

An idiom is a phrase or expression that usually presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase. Some phrases which become figurative idioms, however, do retain the phrase's literal meaning. Categorized as formulaic language, an idiom's figurative meaning is different from the literal meaning. Idioms occur frequently in all languages; in English alone there are an estimated twenty-five thousand idiomatic expressions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El (deity)</span> Northwest Semitic word for god

ʼĒl is a Northwest Semitic word meaning 'god' or 'deity', or referring to any one of multiple major ancient Near Eastern deities. A rarer form, 'ila, represents the predicate form in the Old Akkadian and Amorite languages. The word is derived from the Proto-Semitic *ʔil-.

The advocatus diaboli is a former official position within the Catholic Church, the Promoter of the Faith: one who "argued against the canonization (sainthood) of a candidate in to uncover any character flaws or misrepresentation of the evidence favoring canonization".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erwin Panofsky</span> German art historian

Erwin Panofsky was a German-Jewish art historian, whose academic career was pursued mostly in the U.S. after the rise of the Nazi regime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berlin German</span> German dialect of Berlin, Germany

Berlin German, or Berlin dialect, is the regiolect spoken in the city of Berlin as well as its surrounding metropolitan area. It originates from a Brandenburgisch dialect. However, several phrases in Berlin German are typical of and unique to the city, indicating the manifold origins of immigrants, such as the Huguenots from France.

"God is dead" is a statement made by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. The first instance of this statement in Nietzsche's writings is in his 1882 The Gay Science, where it appears three times. The phrase also appears at the beginning of Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flogging a dead horse</span> Idiom about futile effort

Flogging a dead horse is an idiom meaning that a particular effort is futile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al-Fatiha</span> First chapter of the Quran

Al-Fatiha is the first chapter of the Quran. It consists seven verses which consist of a prayer for guidance and mercy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ik Onkar</span> Religious phrase in Sikhism

Ik Onkar, also spelled Ek Onkar or Ik Oankaar ; literally, "one Om", hence interpreted as "There is only one God or one Creator") is a phrase in Sikhism that denotes the one supreme reality. It is a central tenet of Sikh religious philosophy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aby Warburg</span> German art historian (1866–1929)

Aby Moritz Warburg was a German art historian and cultural theorist who founded the Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek Warburg, a private library, which was later moved to the Warburg Institute, London. At the heart of his research was the legacy of the classical world, and the transmission of classical representation, in the most varied areas of Western culture through to the Renaissance.

In linguistics, phraseology is the study of set or fixed expressions, such as idioms, phrasal verbs, and other types of multi-word lexical units, in which the component parts of the expression take on a meaning more specific than, or otherwise not predictable from, the sum of their meanings when used independently. For example, ‘Dutch auction’ is composed of the words Dutch ‘of or pertaining to the Netherlands’ and auction ‘a public sale in which goods are sold to the highest bidder’, but its meaning is not ‘a sale in the Netherlands where goods are sold to the highest bidder’; instead, the phrase has a conventionalized meaning referring to any auction where, instead of rising, the prices fall.

Edgar Wind was a British interdisciplinary art historian, specializing in iconology in the Renaissance era. He was a member of the school of art historians associated with Aby Warburg and the Warburg Institute as well as the first Professor of art history at Oxford University.

Barking up the wrong tree is an idiomatic expression in English, which is used to suggest a mistaken emphasis in a specific context. The phrase is an allusion to the mistake made by dogs when they believe they have chased a prey up a tree, but the game may have escaped by leaping from one tree to another. The phrase means to mistake one's object, or to pursue the wrong course to obtain it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard G. Salomon</span> American historian

Richard Georg Salomon was an historian of eastern European medieval history and historian of the Episcopal Church in the United States, who taught at the University of Hamburg in Germany and at Kenyon College and its Episcopal Church seminary Bexley Hall in Ohio USA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">English-language idioms</span> Common words or phrases with non-literal meanings

An idiom is a common word or phrase with a figurative, non-literal meaning that is understood culturally and differs from what its composite words' denotations would suggest; i.e. the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words. By another definition, an idiom is a speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements. For example, an English speaker would understand the phrase "kick the bucket" to mean "to die" – and also to actually kick a bucket. Furthermore, they would understand when each meaning is being used in context.

To "throw (someone) under the bus" is an idiomatic phrase in English meaning to blame or abandon a person for selfish reasons. It is typically used to describe a disavowal of a previously amicable relationship to avoid being associated with something controversial or embarrassing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sigrid Weigel</span> German scholar of literary studies and critical theory

Sigrid Weigel is a German scholar of literary studies, critical theory, a specialist of cross-disciplinary research, and a leading scholar of Walter Benjamin, Aby Warburg, and the cultural science (Kulturwissenschaft) around 1900. She held professorships at Hamburg, Zürich, and Berlin and established the internationally noted Advanced Studies “Center for Literary and Cultural Research” in Berlin. In 2016, she received the renowned Aby Warburg Prize of the City of Hamburg.

Markus Mühling is a Protestant systematic theologian and philosopher of religion whose work focuses largely on the doctrine of God, eschatology, the atonement and the dialogue between the natural sciences and theology.

Frank Zöllner is a German art historian. He is among the leading authorities on the life and works of Leonardo da Vinci, about whom he has written numerous publications on. These include book-length studies on the Mona Lisa and one of the two modern catalogue raisonné of Leonardo's works, the other being by Pietro C. Marani.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Titelman, Gregory (1996). Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings . Random House Reference. p. 119. ISBN   0-679-44554-4.
  2. "The devil is in the detail". Macmillan Dictionary. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  3. Johnson, Christopher D. (2012). Memory, Metaphor, and Aby Warburg's Atlas of Images. Cornell University Press. p. 45. ISBN   978-0-8014-7742-3. The seminar 'Die Bedeutung der Antike für den stilistischen Wandel in der italienischen Kunst der Frührenaissance,' WIA, III.95.1, given at the University of Hamburg in the winter semester of 1925-26, was subtitled 'Der liebe Gott steckt im Detail.' The abbreviation 'WIA' refers to unpublished material held at the Warburg Institute Archive.
  4. Mayne, Richard (1963). The Community of Europe. New York: W. W. Norton. p. 92. ...on the principle that 'the devil is in the details', what should have been a merely formal occasion developed into a debate...
  5. Newsweek. Vol. 65, no. 1. Newsweek Inc. 1965. p. 173.
  6. Electrical Safety: Portable Tools and Mobile Appliances; Proceedings of a Symposium. International Labour Office. 1969. p. 102.
  7. Bartlett, John (November 2002). Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (17th ed.). Little, Brown and Company.
  8. Safire, William (30 July 1989). "On Language; Who's in Those Details?". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331.
  9. "Detail". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
  10. "US increases fiscal-stimulus offer to $1.8 trillion to fight COVID-19: Report". mint.com. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-10.