fairy dust
English
editEtymology
editBased on the story of the fictional character Peter Pan, see quotations.
Noun
edit- (fiction) A magical powder that would give the power of flight to whoever it was sprinkled on.
- 1911, J[ames] M[atthew] Barrie, “Come away, Come away!”, in Peter and Wendy, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 54:
- Of course Peter had been trifling with them, for no one can fly unless the fairy dust has been blown on him.
- (by extension) Any apparently magical ingredient or effect; a panacea.
- 2011 May 19, Megan McArdle, quoting Matt Yglesias, “When Should Governments Contract Out?”, in The Atlantic[1], Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC:
- It's not that some magic private sector fairy dust makes the firms all be runs[sic] soundly. Lots of bad businesses are out there. But they tend to lose money and close.
- (slang) The drug phencyclidine.
- Synonym: angel dust
Translations
editmagical powder
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any apparently magical ingredient or effect
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See also
editFurther reading
edit- “fairy dust n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present