Iffu-Pleaseus

Iffu-Pleaseus is a pseudo-Latin magic word invented by humorist Peggy Sherman. In her “Fact Free Fables,” Sherman explains that: “The most famous example of a magic word persisting through the ages is found in the Latin word ‘Iffu-pleaseus,’ first used in magic shows to elicit a particular response from a participant in the audience. Today, hundreds of years later, we still use the Americanized version of ‘iffu-pleaseus’ and still refer to it as ‘the magic word.’”