magical word

magical word (plural magical words)

1. Synonym of magic word.
   • 1932 October 30, Waldemar Kaempffert, “THE WEEK IN SCIENCE: RUBBER FROM THE MILK OF DANDELIONS; […]”, in The New York Times‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 December 2025:

     IN December, 1917, General [Edmund] Allenby captured Jerusalem. Like every well-informed British officer, he kept before him the needs of the Empire. Some one whispered the magical word "potash" to him. He had Major T[homas] G[regory] Tulloch, a competent engineer, sent to survey the possibilities of the Dead Sea.

   • 1973 February 28, James T. Wooten, “Visible Photographer Loses U.S. job”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 8 February 2018:

     “They are upset,” Mr. [Cecil William] Stoughton quoted Mr. [Kenneth] Walker, the director, as saying. “What,” Mr. Walker reportedly asked “were you doing there?” “That word ‘they’ is the magical word, I suppose,” Mr. Stoughton said. “I do know he [Mr. Walker] got that picture from the White House. It's the file Ollie Atkins took.”

   • 1974 July 20, “On Hyde Park Stage, Actors Get a Chance to Struggle”, in The New York Times‎^[3], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 March 2018:

     “Abraxas,” according to the Dictionary of Witchcraft, was a god in certain Asian theogonies, whose name yielded the magical word “abracadabra.”

   • 2009 September 16, Dennis McLellan, “Frank Coghlan Jr., Billy Batson in classic ‘Captain Marvel’ serials, dies at 93”, in Los Angeles Times‎^[4], Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 1 July 2022:

     Frank Coghlan Jr., a silent-movie child actor who later played young Billy Batson, who transformed into Captain Marvel by uttering the magical word “Shazam!” in the landmark 1941 serial “Adventures of Captain Marvel,” has died.

   • 2016 November 21, Bill O’Reilly, “About This Book”, in Bill O’Reilly, James Patterson, Give Please a Chance, London: Young Arrow, →ISBN:

     James and I believe we can bring that civility and compassion back into the world. Let’s start today with our children, by encouraging them to always say that wonderful, magical word: please.

   • 2019 August 15, Daniel Kaplan, “The optics of Roger Goodell with Jay-Z and how Roc Nation will help shield the NFL [National Football League] from social justice arrows”, in The Athletic‎^[5], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 December 2025:

     “We still have a football game, and that is the magical word,” Goodell said. “We always want the focus on football. And I think that’s something that we do, and we do very well. […]”