devil devil

An evil spirit in traditional Aboriginal belief.

Noun

  1. An evil spirit in traditional Aboriginal belief.
    • But his lubra was there: she said he had gone away on some devil-devil business. - 1937, Ion L. Idriess, Over the Range, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, published 1947, page 74:
    • She said they had to hide from the bad people because they might be devil-devils in disguise. - 2006, Alexis Wright, Carpentaria, Giramondo, published 2012, page 282:

Origin

Reduplicated form of devil; originally in Australian Pidgin English.

Forms

devil devils debil-debil devil-devil