Devil a bit

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Meaning

Not at all or not even the smallest amount, used as an emphatic Irish or dialect denial. Dated or regional and mildly irreverent. It usually precedes the noun or clause being negated. Regional use: Irish English, Ulster English and Scots; formerly wider dialect English.

Origin

This emphatic negative belongs to an older English and Scots family in which 'devil' replaces 'not' or 'nothing.' It has been especially persistent in Hiberno-English as 'divil a bit' and in Scots as 'deil a bit.' Historical dictionaries gloss the formula as 'not at all'; contact with Irish and Gaelic negative patterns may have helped preserve it, but a single direct source cannot be proved.

Research Sources

  1. Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary: Devil Wikisource transcription of W. & R. Chambers, 1908
  2. The English of the Irish: Irish English and Scots influence ERIC, U.S. Department of Education repository

Variants

  • Divil a bit
  • Deil a bit
  • Devil the bit

Usage Examples

  • Devil a bit did he care who owned the field.
  • There was divil a bit of shelter between the road and the sea.
  • Deil a bit will that lock turn without oil.

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