Say the Magic Word

A few magic words have remained in popular usage throughout the centuries. “Open Sesame” was Ali Baba’s incantation that opened a locked door. “Abracadabra,” from the 16th century, has been used to precede an unexpected appearance of an item or animal. “Presto-Chango” has been found to be effective when an instant alteration of any kind is required.

Other magic words have either died out or evolved during the course of history. For example, Monks residing on the east side of the Himalayan foothills used the magic word “Zoobay” when they wanted rain to fall in particular areas of crops but not on their homes. This absurd wish for a specific rain pattern called for some fairly impressive magic. The practice of chanting “Zoobay” at dawn during drought season went on for dozens of years before the High Council of Monks decreed that it was improper for monks to use magic words.

Court jesters in ancient Babylon used the word “Nabba-Gadobba!” when they performed the age-old trick of transforming a handful of women’s undergarments into a pair of dodo birds. The exclamation rapidly fell from existence with the rest of the empire.

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.”