Thursday, June 30, 2011

From the Inside Out

A line taken out of context, from our dictionary of magic words:

The Oracle’s vocabulary contains magic words that instantly mesmerize the spectators, dazzling them from the inside out.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Hollywood


"Hollywood?" Her eyes have lit up; clearly I've mentioned the magic word.
—Holly McQueen, Confetti Confidential

(Photo by neonmarg)

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Open Sesame

“‘Open Sesame!’ yelled Henry, just in case it might work.” —Beverly Cleary, Henry and the Clubhouse (1962)

Friday, June 24, 2011

A Peach, A Plum, a Half s Stick of Chewing Gum

“Say the magic word, a peach, a plum, a half a stick of chewing gum.” —T. Berry Brazelton, Touchpoints 3 to 6 (2001)

Wednesday, June 22, 2011


In our tireless hunt for magic words in the wild, we stumbled upon an honest-to-goodness [witch's] cauldron at the site of the bubbling of the very first Brunswick Stew.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Not Abra and Cadabra

“The two most potent magic words are not abra and cadabra.” —Steven L. Case, The Book of Uncommon Prayer (2002)

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Ala-ka-zee, Ala-ka-zam

A line taken out of context, from our dictionary of magic words:

“Ala-ka-zee, Ala-ka-zam, Let me be who I am.” —Elyse F. Aronson, “Ms. Goose and Her Wonderful Rhymes” (1999)

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Some Strange, Weird-Sounding Name


From The Strand magazine, 1895:
"He called some strange, weird-sounding name three times."

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Ooo-cha!

"And she thunked the tiger over the head with her good witch wand and said the magic word, ‘Ooo-cha!’" —Coleen Sydor, Ooo-cha! (1999)

Sunday, June 12, 2011

All the Innocent Awe

A line taken out of context, from our dictionary of magic words:

Speak a magic word as if you might never utter it again, with all the innocent awe of a child beseeching a parent.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Abraxas

"I must be an Abraxas of change, a maker of effect.” —Marvin Spiegelman, Reich, Jung, Regardie & Me (1992)

(See our previous explanation of the magic word Abraxas.)

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Bibbity Bobbity Boo

“One ‘bibbity bobbity boo’ later, there she is dancing with the prince.” —Calvin Miller, The Empowered Leader (1995)

The magic phrase in question was popularized in Disney's Cinderella.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Long Strings of Vowels

A line taken out of context, from our dictionary of magic words:

Incantations of long strings of vowels appear in Greek-Egyptian magical papyri dating back to the second century BCE.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Jiggery Pokery

“The universe is what it is and can’t be changed by jiggery-pokery.” —Robert A. Heinlein, Glory Road (1963)

(See also our previous note about the meaning of jiggery-pokery.)

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Bingo

During a show at the Magic Castle, professional magician Tom Ogden called bingo “the magic word I learned in church.”