# Devil's advocate



## londonmasri

Hi,

What is an idiomatic/natural Arabic (MSA & EA) translation of 'devil's advocate'?
I.e. the TV presenter is playing the devil's advocate.

I have taken this explanation from wikipedia :


> In common parlance, a _*devil's advocate*_ is someone who, given a certain argument, takes a position he or she does not necessarily agree with, just for the sake of argument. In taking such position, the individual taking on the devil's advocate role seeks to engage others in an argumentative discussion process.


 
Looking forward to the replies.


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## Egyptlover

I think it's "محامي الشيطان" in both EA and MSA.


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## londonmasri

Egyptlover said:


> I think it's "محامي الشيطان" in both EA and MSA.


 
Thank you, Egyptlover.

How would you say 'he is playing the devil's advocate'? (acting out the part of the devil's advocate).


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## elroy

Egyptlover said:


> I think it's "محامي الشيطان" in both EA and MSA.


 That sounds _really _weird in Arabic.  Is it actually commonly used?  Would an Arab who doesn't know English actually understand it?


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## rayloom

elroy said:


> That sounds _really _weird in Arabic.  Is it actually commonly used?  Would an Arab who doesn't know English actually understand it?



It is quite common. I actually knew it in Arabic before knowing it in English!


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## elroy

Interesting!  I guess I'll have to train my ear to accept it as normal.


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## ayed

elroy said:


> Interesting! I guess I'll have to train my ear to accept it as normal.


 
It is known that any something new to one's ears is strange.So am I, elory.
Anyway, I usually hear :
هذا من أنصار الشيطان
أو هذا من حزب ا لشيطان


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## londonmasri

ayed said:


> It is known that any something new to one's ears is strange.So am I, elory.
> Anyway, I usually hear :
> هذا من أنصار الشيطان
> أو هذا من حزب ا لشيطان


 
Does this convery the same meaning as devil's advocate?

Because this souds quite harsh to me and perhaps could be understood in a more severe way? DOesn't it also have slightly religous connotations i.e. being with evil etc.

Just voicing my thoughts.


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## إسكندراني

sounds wrong to me..
in Egypt I think we'd just say 'let's assume that'; 'falnafTareD maTHalan enn...'
using 'the devil' lightly like that doesn't have the same casual feel in the Arab world!


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## djara

In certain contexts, I'd use محامي من لا محامي له


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## Egyptlover

londonmasri said:


> Thank you, Egyptlover.
> 
> How would you say 'he is playing the devil's advocate'? (acting out the part of the devil's advocate).



I'd say "إنه يَتَقَمَّص دور محامي الشيطان" and I'd personally use the same word "يتقمص" in colloquial as well "بيتَقَمَّص/مُتَقَمِّص دور محامي الشيطان".


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## Outlandish

I totally agree with Egyptlover, it normally translates محامى الشيطان and is quite normal for me to hear. 

I go for Egyplover's translation again. I would say the sentence in this way:

ولعب/تقمص مقدم البرنامج دور "محامى الشيطان" فى هذا الحوار
وكان المذيع هو "محامى الشيطان" فى هذا الحوار
وكان مقدم المرنامج محامياً عن الشيطان
ولم يخرج مقدم البرنامج عن كونه محامياً عن/ل الشيطان


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## Mahaodeh

I've never seen it translated that way to Arabic and it seems very weird to me too. I don't know whether there is an idiomatic expression similar to it in Arabic but I do know حزب الشيطان وأنصار الشيطان is totally different and can not be used for it.

I would personally prefer not to use محامي الشيطان because although rayloom and egyptlover seem to be acquainted with it, I would personally  misunderstand it although I am perfectly aware of the English expression. I would go for الطرف الآخر\المقابل or وجهة النظر الأخرى\المقابلة and translate this way:

واتخذ مقدم البرنامج وجهة النظر الأخرى\المقابلة في الحوار
وكان المذيع هو الطرف المقابل في الحوار

I think that in Arabic, the word for devil is understood too literally; even if it's understood idiomatically or figuratively it would still be too negative. The English expression on the other hand, is not.


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## Jennie.

Wow! I always thought that محامي الشيطان was a mainstream expression in Arabic.
Do you think that its Roman Catholic origins are the reason it is only common in certain Arab countries? Or is it a pure coincidence that some native Arabic speakers are familiar with it while others have never heard it?


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## Mahaodeh

I don't think so. Having its roots in Catholicism does not really mean that every single nation that has any number of Catholics in it will necessarily develop the idiom in the language. Keep in mind that most Christians in Arab countries are not Catholic anyway - you have Copts and Orthodox much more than you have Catholics.

I would more likely refer the reason to poor translations of the English originals that have the idiom; poor translations tend to translate literally without bothering to think about how it would be understood. In the last couple of decades they have become more and more common, some may read them - others, (myself included) would shed the book (or whatever) aside and prefer to read the original or not read it at all. And yet another group don't read in the first place.


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## thelastchoice

Devil's advocate was a Roman Catholic term describing a canon lawyer looking at the  canonization of a candidate.
In Arabic it is not of that common usage.


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## rayloom

Apparently depends on the region!


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