Magic words or words of power are words which have a specific, and sometimes unintended, effect. They are often nonsense phrases used in fantasy fiction or by stage prestidigitators. Frequently such words are presented as being part of a divine, adamic, or other secret or empowered language. Certain comic book heroes use magic words to activate their powers. Magic words are also used as Easter eggs or cheats in computer games, other software, and operating systems. (For example, the words xyzzy, plugh, and plover were magic words in the classic computer adventure game Colossal Cave Adventure.
Video Magic word
Invocations of magic
Examples of traditional magic words include:
- Aajaye - used often by the clowns in Jaye's magic circus.
- Abracadabra - prototypical magic word used by magicians.
- Ajji Majji la Tarajji - Iranian Magic Word (Persian).
- Alla Peanut Butter Sandwiches - used by The Amazing Mumford on Sesame Street.
- Alakazam - a phrase used by magicians.
- Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo - used by Cinderella's Fairy Godmother.
- By the Power of Grayskull, I HAVE THE POWER - used by the Prince Adam, of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, to transform him into He-Man.
- Cei-u - used by the DC Comics superhero, Johnny Thunder, to summon his magical genie-like Thunderbolt.
- Hocus pocus - a phrase used by magicians.
- Izzy wizzy, let's get busy - Used on The Sooty Show when using Sooty's magic wand.
- Jantar Mantar Jadu Mantar - a phrase used by magicians in India.
- Joshikazam - used by Josh Nichols, a character from the popular Nickelodeon show Drake & Josh.
- Klaatu barada nikto - A phrase used in the 1951 movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. While not intended as magical words in that movie, they were used as such in the spoof horror movie Army of Darkness.
- Mecca lecca hi, mecca hiney ho - Jambi on Pee-wee's Playhouse
- Meeska, Mooska, Mickey Mouse - used on the children's TV series Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to make the Clubhouse appear.
- Oo ee oo ah ah ting tang walla walla bing bang, phrase used in song "Witch Doctor" performed by Ross Bagdasarian Sr., and released in 1958 by Liberty Records under the stage name David Seville.
- Open sesame - used by the character Ali Baba in the English version of a tale from One Thousand and One Nights.
- Presto chango or Hey Presto - used by magicians (probably intended to suggest "quick change").
- Sim Sala Bim - a phrase used by Harry August Jansen. "Sim Sim Sala Bim" are the magic words said by Hadji on the shows The Adventures of Jonny Quest and The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. The line was used by Oscar "Oz" Diggs in Oz the Great and Powerful.
- Shazam - used by the comic book hero Captain Marvel.
- Shemhamforash - used by Satanists in rituals of Modern Satanism as outlined in The Satanic Bible.
- Shimbaree, Shimbarah, Shimbaree, Shimbarah - used on the children's video and TV series Barney and the Backyard Gang and Barney & Friends
- Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - from the song in the movie Mary Poppins.
- Walla Walla Washington - Bugs Bunny in Looney Tunes
Craig Conley, a scholar of magic, writes that the magic words used by conjurers may originate from "pseudo-Latin phrases, nonsense syllables, or esoteric terms from religious antiquity", but that what they have in common is "language as an instrument of creation".
Maps Magic word
Magic words in technology
Software like MediaWiki uses "magic words" to make system information available to templates and editors, such as {{CURRENTTIME}}, which displays the server time: 15:18, see Help:Magic words.
Hexadecimal "words" used in byte code to identify a specific file or data format are known as magic numbers.
"The Magic Words are Squeamish Ossifrage" was the solution to a challenge ciphertext posed by the inventors of the RSA cipher in 1977.
Manners
The term "magic word" may also refer to the word please when used by adults to teach children manners:
The single word changes an imperative order into a conditional request, concisely communicating "Do as I say, if it pleases you."
See also
- Eight Magic Words political use
- Incantation
- Mantra
- Kotodama
- True name
References
External links
- Media related to Magic words at Wikimedia Commons
Source of article : Wikipedia
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