Origin of "Hocus Pocus"
Clay Spinuzzi
I read sometime back this amusing story about the origin of this famous
phrase:
When the Catholic church routinely held Mass in Latin only, the peasants
(who of course didn't know Latin) would filter in and listen to the Mass,
but of course understand none of it. They tended to regard it as magic --
after all, it was sort of an incantation to them. So when the priest intoned
the words of Christ:
"This is my body..."
in LATIN:
"Hoc est corpus..."
the common people heard:
"Hocus pocus..."
Can anyone confirm this story and give a citation?
--
Clay Spinuzzi
spin...@ponder.csci.unt.edu * spin...@twlab.unt.edu * spin...@gab.unt.edu
"If I want your opinion, I'll divine it from your entrails."
Fritz Whittington
>I read sometime back this amusing story about the origin of this famous
>phrase:
>When the Catholic church routinely held Mass in Latin only, the peasants
>(who of course didn't know Latin) would filter in and listen to the Mass,
>but of course understand none of it. They tended to regard it as magic --
>after all, it was sort of an incantation to them. So when the priest intoned
>the words of Christ:
> "This is my body..."
>in LATIN:
> "Hoc est corpus..."
Actually, it's "Hoc est enim corpus meum."
>the common people heard:
> "Hocus pocus..."
>Can anyone confirm this story and give a citation?
I have read this several places, and it's somewhat plausible. I'll try
to look up at least one reference at home tonight. (My dictionary gives
only a probable origin as being a nonsense phrase intended to sound like
Latin. Someone who has an OED might do much better.)
--
Fritz Whittington Texas Instruments, P.O. Box 655474, MS 446 Dallas, TX 75265
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snopes
> When the Catholic church routinely held Mass in Latin only, the peasants
> (who of course didn't know Latin) would filter in and listen to the Mass,
> but of course understand none of it. They tended to regard it as magic --
> after all, it was sort of an incantation to them. So when the priest intoned
> the words of Christ: "This is my body..." in LATIN: "Hoc est corpus..."
> the common people heard: "Hocus pocus..."
> Can anyone confirm this story and give a citation?
Will you accept a non-confirmation?
The Arcade _Dictionary of Word Origins_ says:
"Hocus pocus" came from a phoney Latin phrase -- in full "hax pax max
Deus adimax" -- used by travelling conjurers to impress their audiences.
It was originally used for such a 'conjurer,' or for a 'trickster' in
general ('a Persian hocus pocus performed rare tricks with hands and
feet,' Sir Thomas Herbert, _Travels into Africa and the Greater Asia_
1634), but this had largely died out by the end of the 17th century,
leaving 'trickery, deception' in full possession. "Hoax" probably
originated as a shortened version of "hocus".
- snopes
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Cynthia Kandolf
peasants
>>(who of course didn't know Latin) would filter in and listen to the
Mass,
>>but of course understand none of it. They tended to regard it as
magic --
>>after all, it was sort of an incantation to them. So when the priest
intoned
>>the words of Christ:
>> "This is my body..."
>>in LATIN:
>> "Hoc est corpus..."
>
>Actually, it's "Hoc est enim corpus meum."
>
>>the common people heard:
>> "Hocus pocus..."
>>Can anyone confirm this story and give a citation?
>
>I have read this several places, and it's somewhat plausible. I'll
>try to look up at least one reference at home tonight. (My dictionary
>gives only a probable origin as being a nonsense phrase intended to
>sound like Latin. Someone who has an OED might do much better.)
No confirmation, but something that makes it even a bit more
plausible: back in those days the priest faced _away_ from the
congregation when saying Mass. The accoustics in most of those
buildings were lousy to begin with; this arrangement couldn't have
made things any better.
By the way, in Norwegian it is three words: "hokus pokus filiokus".
Has anyone ever heard the third word said in English? A Norskie i
know looked at me like i was mad when i said we always stopped at
"hocus pocus".
-Cindy Kandolf
ci...@lise.unit.no
Trondheim, Norway
Doug Spindler
> spin...@ponder.csci.unt.edu (Clay Spinuzzi) writes:
> [on origin of hocus pocus]
> > the words of Christ: "This is my body..." in LATIN: "Hoc est corpus..."
> > the common people heard: "Hocus pocus..."
[stuff removed]
> The Arcade _Dictionary of Word Origins_ says:
> "Hocus pocus" came from a phoney Latin phrase -- in full "hax pax max
> Deus adimax" -- used by travelling conjurers to impress their audiences.
> It was originally used for such a 'conjurer,' or for a 'trickster' in
> general ('a Persian hocus pocus performed rare tricks with hands and
> feet,' Sir Thomas Herbert, _Travels into Africa and the Greater Asia_
> 1634), but this had largely died out by the end of the 17th century,
> leaving 'trickery, deception' in full possession. "Hoax" probably
> originated as a shortened version of "hocus".
This is certainly the standard etymology. Earier forms include
"hocas pocas" (1624) and "hokos pokos" (1625). However, several
sources cite the possibility of the "Hoc est ..." derivation [I found no
"... filokis" mentions BTW]. Ciardi, in _A Browser's Dictionary_, is
the only one I found who prefers the "hoc est", although he suggests
it is a reduplication of "hoc est" only [that is, "corpus ..." is
irrelevant to the origin.] He argues:
[acknowledges ODEEs "hax pax ..." version and continues]
... and certainly all such frummery is relevant, but all Catholics,
which is to say everyone in early Europe, were familiar with the
service of the mass, and certainly the liturgical Latin must be taken
as the obvious source.
Unless Ciardi has some better evidence that he did not present, I think
obvious is too strong a word.
Doug "jeepers creepers" Spindler
BTW: Ciardi has a nice essay on "yankee" etymology, all candidates
proposed here recently plus more are mentioned.
Haakon Styri
:
: By the way, in Norwegian it is three words: "hokus pokus filiokus".
: Has anyone ever heard the third word said in English? A Norskie i
: know looked at me like i was mad when i said we always stopped at
: "hocus pocus".
The Norwegian dictionary I use says the "hokus pokus" probably comes
from the "Hoc est Corpus" phrase, but the "filiokus" is more uncertain.
Two guesses are mentioned: It either comes from the latin "filii" that
may have been used in some mass together with the "Hoc est Corpus" or
it's just imported from French (?) "filioque".
Keeping the subject on mass, can anyone explain the origin of the
term "round robin"?
---
YuNoHoo "old time religion"
Rob Leitman
"Appears early in 17th c., as the appellation of a juggler (and,
apparently, as the assumed name of a particular conjuror) derived
from the sham Latin formula employed by him."
This formula is recorded as "Hocus pocus, tontus talontus, vade
celeriter jubeo".
The etymology also says "cf. Grimm, _Hokuspokus_." Does anyone have
access to this book?
The editor's don't seem to think much of the Mass explanation:
"The notion that hocus pocus was a parody of the Latin words used in
the Eucharist, rests merely on a conjecture thrown out by Tillotson"
Tillotson was a 17th century writer, who apparently made the
conjecture in a sermon.
So the conclusion seems to be that the term started off associated
with juggling (hocus pocus is also an old name for the bag used by
jugglers).
Rob "sorry, don't know Latin" Leitman
Vicki Robinson
>:
>: By the way, in Norwegian it is three words: "hokus pokus filiokus".
>: Has anyone ever heard the third word said in English? A Norskie i
>: know looked at me like i was mad when i said we always stopped at
>: "hocus pocus".
>
Growing up in Chicago in the late 50's and 60's (not the Lasnerian ages, but
the true age of Aquarius) we would intone "Hocus pocus, Dominocus" to do our
black deeds.
Worked pretty well, too.
Vicki "Hocus pocus dominocus, I want to be a signature virus when I grow up!"
Robinson
--
Vicki Robinson "It'll just lead to trouble,
Odd physics professor I know it will."
National Technical Institute for the Deaf -- Joel "Vicki Robinson"
VJR...@ritvax.isc.rit.edu Furr, AFU, 1/19/94
Bruce M Tindall -- Personal Account
Cynthia Kandolf <ci...@lise.unit.no> wrote:
>No confirmation, but something that makes it even a bit more
>plausible: back in those days the priest faced _away_ from the
>congregation when saying Mass. The accoustics in most of those
>buildings were lousy to begin with; this arrangement couldn't have
>made things any better.
Garry Wills says (in _Bare Ruined Choirs_) that
"Unless the priest said the phrase precisely, every syllable
enunciated, consecration was invalid -- which led scrupulous priests
to parodies of exact phonetization ('Hu-oh-cu es-te cu-ohr-pus
may-oom')." This could contribute to mis-hearing too.
>By the way, in Norwegian it is three words: "hokus pokus filiokus".
>Has anyone ever heard the third word said in English?
No written citation, but I've often heard "hocus pocus dominocus."
Bruce "2, 4, 6, 8, time to transubstantiate" Tindall
Brian Scearce
> The Arcade _Dictionary of Word Origins_ says:
>
> "Hocus pocus" came from a phoney Latin phrase -- in full "hax pax max
> Deus adimax" -- used by travelling conjurers to impress their audiences.
My _Dictionary of Historical Slang_ identifies the word initially (c.
1625) with jugglers, then by gradual extension, to tricksters,
trickery, a juggler's catch-phrase, and a juggler's equipment. The
origin is either from a Latinized juggler's name, or from (as the
original poster suggested) "hoc est corpus (filii)" -- this theory is
bolstered by the Scandinavian "hokus-pokusfiliokus".
Brian "`Eat me.' -- Mat 26:26, Highly Revised Modern Version" Scearce
--
Brian Scearce b...@sector7g.eng.sun.com
The above does not necessarily represent Sun policy.
It's not Beavis and Butthead's fault that their viewers are as stupid as they are.
Lee Rudolph
>Cynthia Kandolf <ci...@lise.unit.no> wrote:
>>By the way, in Norwegian it is three words: "hokus pokus filiokus".
>>Has anyone ever heard the third word said in English?
>No written citation, but I've often heard "hocus pocus dominocus."
I've heard both of them. Unless I just read them somewhere and now think
that I've heard them.
Lee "literacy, the bane of the folk process" Rudolph
Dragon
>By the way, in Norwegian it is three words: "hokus pokus filiokus".
>Has anyone ever heard the third word said in English? A Norskie i
>know looked at me like i was mad when i said we always stopped at
>"hocus pocus".
Yes! Hadn't remembered that third word until just now. Although my wife
says the third word is "jiminyokus".
David "used to raise crickets for lizard food" Fiedler
--
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If your reply to me bounces, your mail program doesn't understand Reply-To:
Mathias Koerber
back in (D), we used to say "Hokus Pokus Fidibus". I don't have my
Latin dictionary around, but Fidibus also is the name for some device
to ignite an over or fire (if memory serves...)
Maybe that helps
| Bruce "2, 4, 6, 8, time to transubstantiate" Tindall
--
Mathias Koerber | Tel: +65 / 7780066 ext 29
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Duane Dubay
>In (<2jghc5$r...@inxs.concert.net>) Bruce M Tindall -- Personal Account (tin...@rock.concert.net) wrote:
>| In article <CINDY.94F...@lise5.lise.unit.no>,
>| Cynthia Kandolf <ci...@lise.unit.no> wrote:
>| >No confirmation, but something that makes it even a bit more
>| >plausible: back in those days the priest faced _away_ from the
>| >congregation when saying Mass. The accoustics in most of those
>| >buildings were lousy to begin with; this arrangement couldn't have
>| >made things any better.
>| Garry Wills says (in _Bare Ruined Choirs_) that
>| "Unless the priest said the phrase precisely, every syllable
>| enunciated, consecration was invalid -- which led scrupulous priests
>| to parodies of exact phonetization ('Hu-oh-cu es-te cu-ohr-pus
>| may-oom')." This could contribute to mis-hearing too.
>| >By the way, in Norwegian it is three words: "hokus pokus filiokus".
>| >Has anyone ever heard the third word said in English?
>| No written citation, but I've often heard "hocus pocus dominocus."
>back in (D), we used to say "Hokus Pokus Fidibus". I don't have my
>Latin dictionary around, but Fidibus also is the name for some device
>to ignite an over or fire (if memory serves...)
>Maybe that helps
Hmmm.. I thought it was "O fili mi boni on his dominos"
--
Duane J. Dubay
PageSat Inc. "Where cyberspace and outerspace are one"
992 San Antonio Rd.
Palo Alto, CA. 94303 (415) 424-0384 or Email d...@pagesat.net
Bruce M Tindall -- Personal Account
>Hmmm.. I thought it was "O fili mi boni on his dominos"
P.D.Q. Bach has a "Missa Ridiculosa" or something like that which
consists entirely of Hocus-Pocus-like pseudoLatin. E.g., "Credo in,
at most, unum deum; Kimosabe, watch-um what you say-um."
And "Agnus and her sister Doris Dei..." Etc.
But at my back I always hear Frank's flaming chariot hurrying near,
and this has gotten far from ULs, so to get a few millimeters nearer
our alleged subject matter, isn't St. Swithin's Day coming up soon,
and what (if any) is the relationship between it and Groundhog Day
and their respective weather legends?
Bruce "wet blanket" Tindall
bill nelson
: >Hmmm.. I thought it was "O fili mi boni on his dominos"
:
: P.D.Q. Bach has a "Missa Ridiculosa" or something like that which
: consists entirely of Hocus-Pocus-like pseudoLatin. E.g., "Credo in,
: at most, unum deum; Kimosabe, watch-um what you say-um."
: And "Agnus and her sister Doris Dei..." Etc.
That is part (misquoted) of the aria "Et expecto", by the Monk in
"Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice" (S 2^n-1) - An opera in one
unnatural act.
Bill
