Boskie a diabelskie - na podstawie polskich przysłów i frazeologizmów

Abstract

The paper analyzes proverbs and idiomatic expressions that present relations between God and the Devil. It is commonly believed that the forces of good (God) and of evil (the Devil) are clearly separated (the formula: GOD AND the DEVIL). God creates and symbolizes all that is good, while the Devil perpetrates and stands for evil. Man has to choose (the formula: GOD OR the DEVIL). Although the choice seems obvious (the formula: GOD ABOVE the DEVIL), man chooses wrong (the formulas: BOTH GOD AND the DEVIL; the DEVIL INSTEAD OF GOD) or makes no choice at all (the formula: NEITHER GOD NOR the DEVIL). The clear order of things (the divine and the devilish apart) may also be destroyed when man gives vent to his feelings. In expressive idiomatic expressions the words God and Devil are interchangeable.