Beelzebub has a devil for a sideboard


What's the meaning of the phrase 'Beelzebub has a devil for a sideboard'?

A misheard lyric.

What's the origin of the phrase 'Beelzebub has a devil for a sideboard'?

This phrase is a misheard version of ‘Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me’, from Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody:

I’m just a poor boy nobody loves me
He’s just a poor boy from a poor family,
Spare him his life from this monstrosity
Easy come, easy go, will you let me go
Bismillah! No, we will not let you go
(Let him go!) Bismillah! We will not let you go
(Let him go!) Bismillah! We will not let you go
(Let me go) Will not let you go
(Let me go)(Never) Never let you go
(Let me go) (Never) let you go (Let me go) Ah
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
Oh mama mia, mama mia, mama mia, let me go
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me,
For meee

Such mishearings are known as mondegreens and some are invented rather than misheard. I know this one is genuine because for years I heard it that way myself. I don’t know why it never occurred to me that it made no sense. I still prefer the sideboard version to the correct lyric.

Gary Martin is a writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

Gary Martin

Writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.