give the devil his due

Meaning: (idiomatic,informal)Toacknowledgethepositivequalitiesof a person who isunpleasantordisliked.c.1597(date written),William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth,[…]”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…](First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward]Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act I, scene ii]:[…]for he was never yet a breaker ofproverbs: he willgive the devil his due.1821,Sir Walter Scott, chapter 4, inKenilworth:Yetgive the devil his due; Says grace before he doth a deed of villainy.1922,Zane Grey, chapter 5, inThe Day of the Beast:And togive the devil his duehe's finer than ever. Too damn fine for this crowd!2007April 5,Richard Schickel, "The Fog of War Resistance" (film review),Time:We are obliged, at least this once, togive the devil his due— and to consider the possibility that he may even be, in this instance, the angel of bleak truthfulness.

Examples:

EN: You've got to give the devil his due.
ES: Hay que darle crédito al diablo.
EN: - Yes, Jerry, give the devil his due.
ES: -Sí, Jerry, sé justo.
EN: Look, folks, you've got to give the devil his due.
ES: Deben de reconocer los méritos de este diablo.
EN: We are happy to ... give the devil his due ...
ES: Mire allá adentro Es agradable verlo allá...
EN: No, but shouldn't we give the devil his due, Father?
ES: No, pero, ¿no deberíamos ser honestos, padre?
EN: - Oh, come one, let's give the devil his due.
ES: ¡Oigan, vamos a conjurar al demonio!
EN: But we all have to give the devil his due.
ES: Pero debemos darle al diablo lo que merece.
EN: Sure, give the devil his due.
ES: Honor a quien honor merece.
EN: Well, if what you say is true, I will give the devil his due,
ES: Bueno, si de lo que dices estás convencido, le daré al diablo su merecido
EN: It's time to give the devil his due. Look at me.
ES: Es tiempo de darle al demonio lo que le corresponde.
EN: But now we might be able to give the devil his due.
ES: Pero ahora podremos hacer que no quede impune su crimen.
EN: He was a hard man, and there was no love lost between us, but I got to give the devil his due.
ES: Era un hombre duro y no nos podíamos ni ver, pero tengo que ser justo.
EN: Well, the old folks used to say, "You got to give the devil his due."
ES: Bueno, los viejos solían decir que "hay que darle al diablo lo que le toca".
EN: I guess you could say that I'll give the devil his due.
HI: आप कह सकते हैं कि मैं शैतान को अपना देय देता हूं।
EN: Give God His due, and give the devil his due.
HI: इसलिए खुदा से अपने कमबख्त

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