Talk:Printer's devil

Quick google search reveals another, wholly different meaning: "There was a convenient belief among printers that there was a special devil in every print-shop.... At night, or when the printer was not watching, this pesky demon would iuvert letters, mizspell a word or perhaps remove an entire or even a complete line.... In the days of movable type, every letter had to be picked and placed by hand. Thin spacers, know as leading, were added to line everything up. Mistakes were inevitable, and the printer's devil took the blame. From: http://www.writersservices.com/mag/pos/poster_printers_devil.htm --Fuhghettaboutit 08:53, 25 December 2005 (UTC)

• I can' find anything else to support except for that page. Also , the American Heritage and Princeton University Dictionaries support what is written here. – ClockworkSoul 01:42, 26 December 2005 (UTC)

There is no doubt that a Printer's devil means an apprentice. It is the derivation of the term that appears to be undefinitive. Another google search reveals a third origin of the phrase: http://teched.vt.edu/gcc/HTML/PrintingsPast/PrinterNSpy.html

Since we don't known which derivation is correct, I think the best thing to do, is to state that the origin is not so, and list all the origins as possibilities. --Fuhghettaboutit 05:47, 26 December 2005 (UTC)

Sounds like a plan to me. I think that a thoughtful analysis of the origins of the term would make a healthy addition to the article. I don't have time to do it at the moment, but I'll be happy to help you when I get back form the (shudder) real world. – ClockworkSoul 17:06, 26 December 2005 (UTC)

I feel the usage can be traced back to the usage in the Malayalam language of India. Printing mistakes too are called printers devil. In Malayalam, the term for printing mistake is "achadi (printing) pisaku (mistake)". Some smart Aleck converted the word "pisaku" to "pisachu". "Pisachu" means devil, demon, etc. Thus was the usage born.

I believe there's an entirely other meaning for the term, referring to a design element. "Printer's devils" are the decorative items placed on pages to, e.g., separate one section from another. The catalogs of them that were published are collectors items.

(Alas, I can't find any corroboration of that belief, so I guess I'm mixing up the term with something else! Sorry to waste your time!)

Rosalea 20:48, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

I don't have a source for this, but what about the idea that a "devil" could be kind of like a "genie," sort of a helpful wizard enthralled to the printer? This devil is, after all, defined as belonging to the printer. Just a thought. --CRATYLUS22 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.25.160.6 (talk) 06:30, 2 October 2009 (UTC)

Devilling

Surely the term merely refers to one who 'devils' for the printer, ie an apprentice, nothing to do with Satan. The term is also used in the law. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devilling

I have no source, but I always assumed the word's derivation was that apprentice's duties often included unpleasant chores, as in a 'devil of a job'.

217.155.193.120 (talk) 10:52, 10 March 2013 (UTC)