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.
- Huta Raputa – Iranian Magic Word (Persian).
- Alla Peanut Butter Sandwiches – used by The Amazing Mumford on Sesame Street.
- Alakazam
- Bippity, Boppity, Boo – used by Cinderella's Fairy Godmother.
- Cei-u – used by the DC Comics superhero, Johnny Thunder, to summon his magical genie-like Thunderbolt.
- Hocus pocus – a phrase used by magicians.
- Jantar Mantar Jadu Mantar – a phrase used by magicians in India.
- Joshikazam – used by Josh Nickels, a character from the popular Nickelodeon show "Drake and 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.
- Meeska, Mooska, Mickey Mouse – used on the children's TV series Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to make the Clubhouse appear.
- Open sesame – used by the character Ali Baba in the English version of a tale from the collection popularly known as 1001 Arabian 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.
- Shazam – used by the comic book hero Captain Marvel.
- Izzy wizzy, let's get busy – Used on The Sooty Show when using Sooty's magic wand.
- Walla Walla Washington – Bugs Bunny looney tunes
- Mecca lecca hi, mecca hiney ho – Jambi on Pee Wee's Playhouse
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."
Note that the television game show You Bet Your Life, hosted by Groucho Marx in the 1950s, used the term secret word, not magic word. ("Say the secret word and win a prize!")
Read more about this topic: Magic Word
Famous quotes containing the word magic:
“A full bosom is actually a millstone around a woman’s neck: it endears her to the men who want to make their mammet of her, but she is never allowed to think that their popping eyes actually see her. Her breasts ... are not parts of a person but lures slung around her neck, to be kneaded and twisted like magic putty, or mumbled and mouthed like lolly ices.”
—Germaine Greer (b. 1939)