shazam
English edit
Etymology edit
Apparently coined by American comic book writer Bill Parker in February 1940,[1][2] from the first letters of Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury.
Pronunciation edit
Interjection edit
shazam
- Used to indicate that a magic trick or other illusion has been performed.
- 2008, Tom Bissinger, Da Capo:Selected Writings 1967-2004: Selected Writings 1967-2004, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 91:
- My parents lived in the Last Naïf Age: the last ‘good war’, atoms for peace, and parental philosophy that said children should do and say exactly what we do and say, and Shazam! You'll be us.
- 2009, K. L. Denman, Me, Myself and Ike, Orca Book Publishers, →ISBN, page 185:
- So I brought you down the trail on the sled, put you in my car and, shazam, here we are.
Verb edit
shazam (third-person singular simple present shazams, present participle shazamming, simple past and past participle shazammed)
- (neologism, uncommon, transitive) To determine the artist or the name of a song using the Shazam application.
Translations edit
transform into a superhero
References edit
- ^ Karl M. Kapp (2013) The Gamification of Learning and Instruction Fieldbook: Ideas into Practice, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 191: “If you recall, Shazam is a comic book character created by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck for Fawcett Comics. He is an ancient wizard who gives a young boy named Billy Batson the power to transform into the superhero Captain Marvel.”
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “shazam”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.