| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 260.1 | answer? | IOSG::DAVEY | | Thu Oct 16 1986 16:53 | 13 |
|
a All I know is it's supposed to have some magical (the dictionary
abr says "cabalistic") powers when it's written like a triangle
abrac <-.
abracad Otherwise, the dictionary just says "Latin, from Greek"
abracadac - as the Greeks don't use our alphabet I wonder
abracadabra whether it does come from A B C D.
Any magicians (black or white) out there?
john
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| 260.2 | .2 Is On The Right Track | INK::KALLIS | | Thu Oct 16 1986 17:16 | 24 |
| This really belongs in DEJAVU. However,
Abracadabra was originally a magical cure word first mentioned by
Quintus Serenus Sammonicus, a doctor who accompanied the Roman emperor,
Severus, when he was on expedition to Britain in AD 208.
It was a fever cure, and was supposed to be written on a piece of
paper that was to be hung on a patient's neck. The triangle aspect
is correct, but the triangle is inverted:
ABRACADABRA
BRACADABR
RACADAB
ACADA
CAD
A
The fever was supposed to dwindle away, as the word did. Nobody
is quite sure where it originated, though ancient healing prayers
might have been the root.
Steve Kallis, Jr.
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| 260.3 | ... continuing ad hoc | 4GL::LASHER | Working... | Fri Dec 05 1986 18:40 | 1 |
| Ok, so where did "hocus pocus" come from?
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| 260.4 | I think this has been answered before, but... | DRAGON::MCVAY | Pete McVay, VRO (Telecomm) | Fri Dec 05 1986 21:24 | 8 |
| It came from the words of the Mass, "Hoc et Corpus est" (Here is
the body of Christ.), spoken by the pirest as he raised the Host.
Since bells were tinkled and incense was frequently loosed at this
point, the masses weren't sure what was going on, but they knew
it was important. Travelling magicians, tumblers, and clowns at
Faires used the words when performing magic tricks. Since nobody
spoke Latin very well, including the priests, the words got mangled
to "hocus pocus."
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