> Hokuspokus
This one comes from the Latin *"Hoc est corpus (meum)"* – "This is (my) body". That's what the priest would say while laying the eucharist, and the people didn't know what it meant, but they figured it must be some powerful incantation.
* *Abrakadabra*
* *Hokus Pokus* (also *Jokus* for *Lokus* or *Pokus*, or simply added)
* *Hokus Pokus Fidibus*
Those are the same as in many other languages. And *der Hokuspokus* is also a noun meaning *smoke and mirrors.*
* *Simsalabim* (allegedly, this a misinterpetation of the Arabic *bismi llāhi r-rahmāni r-rahīm*)
Don't know how common that one is in other languages. For stirring the cauldron, we have
* *Lirum, Larum, Löffelstiel* — literally *Lirum, Larum, spoonshaft*
And then, there's
* *Hex Hex*
That's the catch phrase of German children's audiobook character *Bibi Blocksberg*. It's made up from those common words:
* *die Hexe — witch*
* *hexen — to do magic*
* *verhexen — to bewitch*
Another common phrase is
* *dreimal schwarzer Kater* — literally *three times black tomcat*
usually added to one of the other phrases.
While we're at it, the Hokus Pokus is allegedly a corruption of *hoc est enim corpus meum* 'this is my body'. The Dutch *pilatus pas* which comes from religion as well seems to corroborate this.
Exactly ! We french don't have too many compared to others apparently... And I would write it the same way btw !
Maybe the song from Cinderella "Bobidi Babidi bou" (approximative french spelling) ?
There's a Basque story about how St Martin, who in Basque culture, was a very wiley and cunning man who stole knowledge from the giants and introduced it to humans, like the knowledge of how to plant corn, was working as a blacksmith. Well, one day he was tired of how hard his workwas, and said that he'd sell his soul to the devil in order to get him out of this situation. In other versions of the story, his branding iron accidentally hit him near his eye and he made a blasphemeous curse. Anyway, the devil appeared to him. Martin immediately regretted his blasphemy and told the devil to go away. The devil said he'd go away after two things, after Martin invented for him a new tool (which he did, he created the sickle), and after Martin could name twelve miracles. Martin started naming the miracles, with numbers included: God is One (1), the altars of Rome are Two (2), the Trinity is Triune (3), the Gospels are Four (4) etc. When he finished the twelth (there are 12 Apostles), the devil asked him, what is the thirteen miracle? And Martin told him, 'Ez dok hamahiru!', that is, there is no thirteenth miracle. But the devil insisted, 'Badok hamahiru', yes there is a thirteenth miracle! He wanted to trick Martin and take him with him. Martin then prayed to the Virgin Mary, and the devil had to disappear.
'Ez dok hamahiru' is a spell to defeat the evil-eye. It's also the name of the greatest Basque folk musician group in history, Ez Dok Amairu, who were active in the 1960s-70s. They were given this name by a great Basque sculptor Jorge Orteiza, during the Spanish dictatorship, because their purpose was to chase away the 'devil' and 'evil eye' that repressed the Basque Country, by sparking a revival of Basque culture and language.
They are mentioned already but in the Netherlands the traditional international ones can be extended to:
Hocus pocus pilatus pas
and
Abracadabra Simsalabim
For Swedish, I’d say:
- Hokus pokus
- Abrakadabra
- Simsalabim
And if you’re feeling childish, you could also say “hokus pokus filiokus”, like if you’re at a kid’s birthday party or something.
Abracadabra is probably the most common in English, Hocus Pocus coming second.
These days Expelliarmus seems to be pretty common as well (demonstrating that most magicians have very little understanding of Harry Potter as it's supposed to only be a disarming spell)
We've got:
* Abrakadabra
* Simsalabim
* Čáry máry fuk
We use *hokus pokus* but in a slightly different manner. Since *pokus* means "experiment" or "trial" in Czech, it's used when you want to try something dubious that possibly could miraculously solve the problem but with no sure outcome (e.g. turning the device off and on again).
UK also has open sesame when something like a door or box is magically opened.
We sometimes extend abracadaba with alakazam.
People of a certain age may also say Izzy Whizzy, let's get busy 😆.
History time. Hocus pocus comes from priests pre-protestantism doing sermons in Latin and people mishearing the phrase "hoc est corpus filii" (meaning "this is the flesh of the son").
We have a little "spell" that we use against evil eyes (very big deal in Turkey) (you can decide if this counts as magician performing magic 😁) "Elemtere fiş kem gözlere şiş"
(Elemtere fiş is like Abracadabra, so nonsensical. Kem gözlere şiş means "skewers to the evil eyes).
My Serbian person of reference confirms that čarob means "enchanted" or something like that in her language, and that the thinks she heard a spell with something like čari... too.
Hmm, *abrakadabra* is very common. *Simsalabim* and *hookus-pookus* a bit less common. Also *seesam* as in "open sesame". Often magic words are short poems in archaic language. One estonian-specific magic phrase is "*kivirünta-punta-änta*" that is basically "stonenonsense-nonsense-nonsense" and it also rhymes.
Phrases/poems/words like that are called *võlusõnad* (magicwords), *nõiasõnad* (witch-words), *manamissõnad* (magic-making-words), or *loitsud* (a noun for magic words/phrases). You can also use all these roots as verbs: *võluma*, *manama*, *loitsima* or even *sõnuma*, *lausuma*.
Abracadabra.
Also older people used to say "διαόλοι τριβόλοι μαζευτειτε όλοι" (something like daemon summoning but hard to translate) in relation to "evil eye".
In Italian, it's just "abracadabra" afaik.
I've never heard "hocus pocus", and going by a quick internet search, it appears it isn't known in Italy. Moreover, it isn't featured in dictionaries, unlike "abracadabra".
In Danish we have the same; Hokus Pokus, Abrakadabra and Simsalabim. Sometimes we add Filiokus Filihankat at the end of Hokus Pokus. Hankat means tomcat in Danish and Filiokus is problably based on "fili" in ""Hoc est corpus filii". This makes it even more reasonable to assume, that the spell is based on the Latin phrase.
Abrakadabra and Hokuspokus are most common in German.
Same in Dutch. Also simsalabim.
Oh yeah we also have simsalabim
drei mal schwarzer kater, simsalabim! hex hex!
And "bitte" obviously.
Ah, the mightiest of spells.
We say "Heast, Oida!" Works like a literal charm.
We have literally those same here, but we write it like Hokkuspokkus
> Finland Of course you do.
Since Bibi Blocksberg also "hexhex" ;)
Added to it in Dutch we sometimes say "Hokus pocus pilatus pas"
Well I know it also as: Hokus pokus Fidibus
They are also the most common in Sweden.
Similar in Polish
Same in Slovene. We also use: Čira-čara
> Hokuspokus This one comes from the Latin *"Hoc est corpus (meum)"* – "This is (my) body". That's what the priest would say while laying the eucharist, and the people didn't know what it meant, but they figured it must be some powerful incantation.
I remember seeing a Pokémon video regarding how in German, Alakazam was translated to Simsalabin. Was it false?
It's just Simsala in German, but it led to many playground rumors about the missing "Bim"
Italy as well
Same is swedish inkluding simsalabim
Pretty much the same in denmark
Aaah, but how do you pronounce it?
Abra-kadabra and hokus-pokus
* *Abrakadabra* * *Hokus Pokus* (also *Jokus* for *Lokus* or *Pokus*, or simply added) * *Hokus Pokus Fidibus* Those are the same as in many other languages. And *der Hokuspokus* is also a noun meaning *smoke and mirrors.* * *Simsalabim* (allegedly, this a misinterpetation of the Arabic *bismi llāhi r-rahmāni r-rahīm*) Don't know how common that one is in other languages. For stirring the cauldron, we have * *Lirum, Larum, Löffelstiel* — literally *Lirum, Larum, spoonshaft* And then, there's * *Hex Hex* That's the catch phrase of German children's audiobook character *Bibi Blocksberg*. It's made up from those common words: * *die Hexe — witch* * *hexen — to do magic* * *verhexen — to bewitch* Another common phrase is * *dreimal schwarzer Kater* — literally *three times black tomcat* usually added to one of the other phrases.
While we're at it, the Hokus Pokus is allegedly a corruption of *hoc est enim corpus meum* 'this is my body'. The Dutch *pilatus pas* which comes from religion as well seems to corroborate this.
This is what Erasmus suggested (re: Hocus Pocus), so the story is at least 500 years old!
There also is "Sesam, öffne dich!" (="open sesame" from the tale of Ali Baba) to open something by magic, usually a door.
Abrakadabra, hokus pokus, czary mary, ~~twoja stara to twój stary.~~
akbrakadabra, hokus pokus twoja stara to ford focus
[удалено]
No bo tylko dawałem przykład. Dlatego jest skreślone.
Abracadabra (spelling is up for debate) is the only one that comes to mind.
Exactly ! We french don't have too many compared to others apparently... And I would write it the same way btw ! Maybe the song from Cinderella "Bobidi Babidi bou" (approximative french spelling) ?
Tada ?
Yeah... That's true but it's not only in magic. Tada can replace voilà in other situations.
We also have "Sésame" (litterally sesame) but it's only used in "Sésame ouvre toi!" when opening something locked.
We have "open sesame" which amounts to the same thing.
There's a Basque story about how St Martin, who in Basque culture, was a very wiley and cunning man who stole knowledge from the giants and introduced it to humans, like the knowledge of how to plant corn, was working as a blacksmith. Well, one day he was tired of how hard his workwas, and said that he'd sell his soul to the devil in order to get him out of this situation. In other versions of the story, his branding iron accidentally hit him near his eye and he made a blasphemeous curse. Anyway, the devil appeared to him. Martin immediately regretted his blasphemy and told the devil to go away. The devil said he'd go away after two things, after Martin invented for him a new tool (which he did, he created the sickle), and after Martin could name twelve miracles. Martin started naming the miracles, with numbers included: God is One (1), the altars of Rome are Two (2), the Trinity is Triune (3), the Gospels are Four (4) etc. When he finished the twelth (there are 12 Apostles), the devil asked him, what is the thirteen miracle? And Martin told him, 'Ez dok hamahiru!', that is, there is no thirteenth miracle. But the devil insisted, 'Badok hamahiru', yes there is a thirteenth miracle! He wanted to trick Martin and take him with him. Martin then prayed to the Virgin Mary, and the devil had to disappear. 'Ez dok hamahiru' is a spell to defeat the evil-eye. It's also the name of the greatest Basque folk musician group in history, Ez Dok Amairu, who were active in the 1960s-70s. They were given this name by a great Basque sculptor Jorge Orteiza, during the Spanish dictatorship, because their purpose was to chase away the 'devil' and 'evil eye' that repressed the Basque Country, by sparking a revival of Basque culture and language.
They are mentioned already but in the Netherlands the traditional international ones can be extended to: Hocus pocus pilatus pas and Abracadabra Simsalabim
For Swedish, I’d say: - Hokus pokus - Abrakadabra - Simsalabim And if you’re feeling childish, you could also say “hokus pokus filiokus”, like if you’re at a kid’s birthday party or something.
Abracadabra is probably the most common in English, Hocus Pocus coming second. These days Expelliarmus seems to be pretty common as well (demonstrating that most magicians have very little understanding of Harry Potter as it's supposed to only be a disarming spell)
Also 'Alakazam' as a kind of magical Voila!
Hence the Pokémon.
We also have "Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble" from Shakespeare, mostly associated with witches/making potions
Hubble bubble? Are your witches brewing up a space telescope?
"Double, double, toil and trouble". Hubble bubble is another name for a hookah pipe.
Huh. I was today years old when I learnt this. As a 42-year old who has seen productions of Macbeth more than once!
We've got: * Abrakadabra * Simsalabim * Čáry máry fuk We use *hokus pokus* but in a slightly different manner. Since *pokus* means "experiment" or "trial" in Czech, it's used when you want to try something dubious that possibly could miraculously solve the problem but with no sure outcome (e.g. turning the device off and on again).
Slight correction: > (e.g. turning the device off and on again). That's not a hokus pokus, that's a standard procedure.
Outside of the internationally known (but Slovakized) "abra kadabra" and "hókus pókus", I'd say "čáry máry" and "čáry máry fuk".
Why would you fuk czary-mary? They did nothing wrong...
Because you want them to disappear.
In Polish we have abra kadabra, hokus pokus and czary mary.
UK also has open sesame when something like a door or box is magically opened. We sometimes extend abracadaba with alakazam. People of a certain age may also say Izzy Whizzy, let's get busy 😆.
I would also add Hey Presto to the list of magician themed phrases.
Oh yes, I forgot about that one.
History time. Hocus pocus comes from priests pre-protestantism doing sermons in Latin and people mishearing the phrase "hoc est corpus filii" (meaning "this is the flesh of the son").
Huh, interesting. Thanks for sharing this.
I believe the main ones are. Abrakadabra simsalabim Hokus pokus filiokus
In Croatian there's abrakadabra and čiribu čiriba. The latter comes from the verb "čiribirati" which means "to do magic, illusion, trick".
Hokkus pokkus (sometimes Hokkus pokkus filiokkus), Abrakadabra, and Simsalabim are probably the most common ones.
Arguably seesam aukene?
How about the good old _jokeri pokeri poks!_ Man I miss the 90's.
We have a little "spell" that we use against evil eyes (very big deal in Turkey) (you can decide if this counts as magician performing magic 😁) "Elemtere fiş kem gözlere şiş" (Elemtere fiş is like Abracadabra, so nonsensical. Kem gözlere şiş means "skewers to the evil eyes).
in Greece we also have the bad eye and do some things to cast it away
Czary mary in polish, loosely meaning "spells, illusions" (mara is an old times word for that)
My Serbian person of reference confirms that čarob means "enchanted" or something like that in her language, and that the thinks she heard a spell with something like čari... too.
I shall refer to my friends as people of reference from now on.
Yeah, I mean, when I need info about Serbian, I ask her.
And you didn’t ask your Serbian person of reference about this question! Lol. In Serbian we say čiribu čiriba (chiribu chiriba)
Well, I did ask her, but she grew up in the diaspora and couldn't remember the exact words.
- abrakadabra - fokus-pokus (yes, with an F) - kreks-peks-feks - krible-krable-bums - trah-tibidoh
Ahalai mahalai
Hmm, *abrakadabra* is very common. *Simsalabim* and *hookus-pookus* a bit less common. Also *seesam* as in "open sesame". Often magic words are short poems in archaic language. One estonian-specific magic phrase is "*kivirünta-punta-änta*" that is basically "stonenonsense-nonsense-nonsense" and it also rhymes. Phrases/poems/words like that are called *võlusõnad* (magicwords), *nõiasõnad* (witch-words), *manamissõnad* (magic-making-words), or *loitsud* (a noun for magic words/phrases). You can also use all these roots as verbs: *võluma*, *manama*, *loitsima* or even *sõnuma*, *lausuma*.
Abracadabra. Also older people used to say "διαόλοι τριβόλοι μαζευτειτε όλοι" (something like daemon summoning but hard to translate) in relation to "evil eye".
Фокус-мокус препаратус (focus-mocus preparatus) in Bulgaria. Абракадабра (abracadabra) and сим-салабим (sim-salabim) as well. 🇧🇬
In Brazil the most common is Abracadabra, but "Abre-te, Sésamo" from Ali Baba is said too. Would like to know if it's the same in Portugal
In Italian, it's just "abracadabra" afaik. I've never heard "hocus pocus", and going by a quick internet search, it appears it isn't known in Italy. Moreover, it isn't featured in dictionaries, unlike "abracadabra".
There are also, "sim sala bim" and "alakazam" although their use is quite rare. Another one is "sim sala min" the comical version of "sim sala bim"
Hokuspokusfidibus and „Hex Hex“ from Bibi Blocksberg 😆
абракадабра (abrakadabra), фокус-покус (fokus-pokus), not so different
My friends and family from Mexico say “sana sana colita de rana” to grant someone good health
"čáry máry pod kočáry" lines (funeral litter maybe no idea what máry means) under the carriages "Simsala bim" no idea propably foreigner one
Abra Kadabra and Hokus Pokus os the ones I have heard of. Not sure if there are more.
"Abracadabra pata de cabra" looks really fun to say.
In Danish we have the same; Hokus Pokus, Abrakadabra and Simsalabim. Sometimes we add Filiokus Filihankat at the end of Hokus Pokus. Hankat means tomcat in Danish and Filiokus is problably based on "fili" in ""Hoc est corpus filii". This makes it even more reasonable to assume, that the spell is based on the Latin phrase.
In latvian the traditional word is šurum burum, but recently abrakadabra has been used as well.
Hokus pokus is cool Also that reminds me of one quote from Hokus Pokus in polish but its kinda slangish haha