Satan's spawn is a usual expression or not? (2025)

In You Again, an American film, a girl in her 20s said, "there are 70 billions people in the world, and I get struck with this Satan's spawn as my sister-in-law."

Her brother was going to marry with a girl who had bullied her during high school.

I wonder whether or not "Satan's spawn" is usual expression for native speakers to refer to an evil person.

Thanks!

I've never heard anyone use it in conversation, but I know the expression and I think it's familiar enough that many people would understand it.

Be careful of your transcriptions: the words are "billion" and "stuck."

Copyright said:

I've never heard anyone use it in conversation, but I know the expression and I think it's familiar enough that many people would understand it.

Be careful of your transcriptions: the words are "billion" and "stuck."

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Thank you! I see.

I think it has become somewhat established as humorous expression, not least, I think because of the alliteration. There is an interesting discussion on this here:

The principle use of "spawn of Satan" nowadays seems to be as an exaggerated and facetious characterization of someone, or some group, that can be described as "evil," also usually used facetiously.

It also goes into possible reasons for the emergence of the phrase (such as its connection with popular horror and fantasy), and I broadly agree with its conclusions.

Daffodil100 said:

In You Again, an American film, a girl in her 20s said, "there are 70 billions people in the world, and I get struck with this Satan's spawn as my sister-in-law."

Her brother was going to marry with a girl who had bullied her during high school.

I wonder whether or not "Satan's spawn" is usual expression for native speakers to refer to an evil person.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

"Spawn of Satan" is the more usual version of the expression, but both are used. It is now a humorous exaggeration, and is rarely used when seriously speaking of an individual thought of as being evil. It can be used as a singular noun, as in "She's a spawn of Satan" or a collective noun, as when Francis Yeats-Brown wrote "[M]ules are spawn of Satan."

I use it, but I have been using it seriously. Oh dear! People might have thought I was making light of whoever I was talking about. I have only a couple of people on my Spawn of Satan A- list right now. I can't imagine using it humorously, but I guess it depends on your views about Evil and Good.

Hermione

Thomas1 said:

I guess anyone who knows Christianity a little will instantly work out what the wording is supposed to mean, but I don't expect it to be found in mainstream English often.

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Both Islam and Judeism also.