Rubbish right back at you. The OED gives the origin as unknown yet nonetheless traces the word to a Latin writer in the 3rd C. Both the OED and Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology (which doesn’t always agree) refer to a word spoken by or a charm worn by a magician. The American Heritage Dicitonary of the English Language 4th Ed. even describes the magic amulet as a triangle containing lines of letters of the alphabet, starting with A at the top. The OED compared “abracadabra” with “abraxis” in usage but does no relate them etymologically. Your source?
el8 over 11 years ago
She’ll a spelling bee (sic).
pschearer Premium Member over 11 years ago
The connection between writing and magic is ancient. To this day the “magic” word ABraCaDabra is based on the alphabet.
gordrogb Premium Member over 11 years ago
Which came first – the alphabet or that song?
Poollady over 11 years ago
…and that spells TROUBLE.
KEA over 11 years ago
Actually… this seems reasonable to me.
jpsomebody over 11 years ago
If she is going to cast a spell, she should be using a fishing pole.
richardj over 11 years ago
You’d better just letter.
geneboecker over 11 years ago
Or is she going to spell “A cast.”?
pschearer Premium Member over 11 years ago
Rubbish right back at you. The OED gives the origin as unknown yet nonetheless traces the word to a Latin writer in the 3rd C. Both the OED and Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology (which doesn’t always agree) refer to a word spoken by or a charm worn by a magician. The American Heritage Dicitonary of the English Language 4th Ed. even describes the magic amulet as a triangle containing lines of letters of the alphabet, starting with A at the top. The OED compared “abracadabra” with “abraxis” in usage but does no relate them etymologically. Your source?
bmonk over 11 years ago
On a completely different note, she ought to see a doctor about that strange jaundice. Maybe a witch doctor?
+++++
Is that Newt alphabet soup, or bat alphabet soup?
Earnestly Frank over 11 years ago
Hopefully it works better than last time, when she was going through a bad spel.
runar over 11 years ago
Make sure you run it through a spell checker first.
Mneedle over 11 years ago
Cast a spell or spell a cast?
ColonelClaus over 11 years ago
Spell a cast? Who is directing? Who is the playwright?
kitsober over 11 years ago
The orthopedic surgeon wanted to know if any bones were broken, and if so whether a half cast or a full cast was needed.