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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread hocus pocus #1045 03/31/2000 8:19 PM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 2 CA rhinocita stranger rhinocita stranger Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 2 CA A history teacher of dubious reputation once told me that "hocus pocus" comes out of the medieval Catholic church, and originated as a corruption of the phrase "Hoc est meum Corpus" ("This is my body") by illiterate priests who couldn't remember the few words of Latin they'd been taught. Anyone have any feedback on that? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: hocus pocus #1046 04/03/2000 5:44 AM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 1 CA Keith stranger Keith stranger Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 1 CA Hocus Pocus does indeed, seem to be from a faux Latin, but of far more recent origin. Both the OED and my 1919 websters agree on a 17th century origin, associated with a juggler, perhaps called Hocus Pocus, who used a fake latin chant to obscure what he was doing and confuse the audience. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

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