Show notes

On this episode of Appraise The Phrase: Origins of Everyday Expressions... Six dictionaries have no definition for "knocking on the devil's door." We found out why — and then we found the actual door. Where does "knocking on the devil's door" come from, and what does it actually mean? Merriam-Webster, Cambridge, Oxford, Collins, dictionary.com and TheFreeDictionary all come up empty — the first phrase in six seasons of this show that no published dictionary will touch. Wiktionary's only nearby entry is "devil's doorbell," which is something else entirely. So we went looking for the origin ourselves. There is a real devil's door: a sealed entrance on the north wall of medieval English churches, including Durham Cathedral, built to be used and then bricked shut. But the name is nowhere near as old as the door. The earliest record of anyone calling one a "devil's door" comes from an 1832 demolition in Nottinghamshire — three centuries after the doors went up, when nobody could remember what they were for and the Victorians were ready with an explanation. Along the way: why Terrence Howard's line in Four Brothers is where most people have actually heard this phrase, how Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" swallowed the devil version whole, and why the Robert Johnson crossroads legend belongs to a different bluesman named Tommy Johnson. Mario and Twenty are joined by cunda, Rello and angie of Circle The Block — Where Culture and Nostalgia Come Full Circle — for the phrase submitted by Coach Trav of The Mental Health Playbook. Both shows are Underdog Podcasts affiliates. An etymology podcast on the origins of everyday expressions. Every episode we unveil the origin, confirm the meaning, and assess the value. This one graded out at a B−. Value is in the eye of the appraiser. Shop: appraisethephrase.com/shop