meaning - What does "devil a bit" mean?


I’ve read this in older books, and I get the impression that it means “not at all”, but the construction doesn’t make sense. Am I right as to the meaning? And how should I interpret the form?


Here’s one usage:



And that’s the reason why, if a man speaks his mind too freely against the gospel according to Saint Mat Thew, the Devil-a-bit does Mat care about it.




Answer



It seems that this is a slang saying from Dublin, Ireland. It means "nothing at all". You may read the whole thread for the relevant discussion.


Eric Partridge has "devil a bit" in his Dictionary of Slang and says:



devil a bit (says Punch), the
A firm though jocular negative: colloquial: circa 1850-1910. Without says Punch it goes back to earlyish 17th century: Pepys uses it thus on 3 April 1668.



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