Whats the origin of “abracadabra,” “hocus-pocus,” and “presto”?
Dear Matthew: Age-old process. Years ago, when trying to invoke the mysterious forces of the universe, you said, “Abracadabra.” Today you say, “Hello, tech support?” Hocus-pocus has been around since the early 17th century. The Oxford English Dictionary tells of a conjurer called Hocus-Pocus who used the phrase as part of a faux-Latin incantation during his act: “Hocus pocus, tontus talontus, vade celeriter jubeo.” It’s been plausibly suggested that hocus-pocus is a corruption of the genuine Latin words hoc est enim corpus meum, “for this is my body,” spoken during the consecration of the Roman Catholic Mass when the wine and wafer are said to be transformed into the body and blood of Christ. Some experts, presumably non-Catholic, think hocus-pocus itself was then corrupted into the word hoax. Abracadabra is a much older term, turning up first in a second-century poem. It was used by the Gnostics, early Christians who placed great stock in esoteric knowledge. The term has been explaine
