Hot-Pad

The words hot pad are at the heart of a mental magic effect (link to PDF), by the folks at The Journal of Recreational Linguistics.

Zorami Zaitux Elastot

These ancient Egyptian words for instant success were believed to call upon the assistance of “enough genii for the immediate achievement” of any undertaking.

Kedavra

Even more than its cousin cadabra, the Aramaic magic word kedavra is shrouded by an ominous, dark aura of necromancy. As part of a killing curse, kedavra has gained worldwide popularity via the Harry Potter series.

Primal Amazement

What is the source of primal amazement? Language has the power to reawaken vestiges of humankind’s earliest communication—our ancient ancestors’ savage cries of anger or love. All such cries were commands, “originally bound up with the act” and indeed inseparable to the primitive mind. Much in the way that a small child learns to conjure up a parent from the unseen void of an adjoining room, simply by employing a magic word like “Mama,” we can reflect that “The savage called his friend’s name, and saw his friend turn and answer; what more natural to conclude than that the name itself in some way compelled an answer?” (Joy Davidman, Smoke on the Mountain, 1953).

Hfuhruhurr

This mumbled word is used to summon an invisible swordsman in the film ¡Three Amigos! (1986).

An Eye of Newt with 20/20 Vision

Our magician friend and tech wizard Gordon Meyer offers this handy eye chart for focusing on the upcoming publication of Magic Words: A Dictionary. Our new edition of the dictionary features Gordon's magic spell for bringing a snowman to life.

Jitanjáfora

Said to express everything because it means nothing, jitanjáfora is a playful appeal to fantasy. Common to Spanish Afro-Caribbean vanguard poetry, the term was coined by Mexican writer Alfonso Reyes in his book La Experiencia Literaria (1942).