v
Vacation
Mystique: "We get mesmerized by magic words," says Dale Mathers,1 and
the word vacation is mesmerizing indeed. "'Vacation' is a magic word. Use
it in a conversation and people are likely to momentarily spirit off to their
private bit of paradise, disappear to somewhere that exists between fantasy
and the world-as-we-know-it." The inclusion of the word vacation in a magician's
patter is a guaranteed distraction.
Vamoose
Vanish, vamoose.
-- Bob Levy, Broken Hearts (2000)
Meanings:
• Leave quickly, go away
Origins: This is a slang form of vamos, a Spanish word meaning "let's go."
Common Magician's Applications: Vanishing. For example, the "Triple
Vamoose" is a coin vanishing trick performed by professional magician
Barry Taylor.
In Literature:
• "'Vamoose!' Wizard yelled. 'That's a magic word, when you need to hurry!'"
-- Janice Lee Smith, Wizard and Wart (1995)
Vê, Não Vê
(see now you see it, now you don't)
Origins: Of Portuguese origin, this is an expression from the Amazon
equivalent to now you see it, now you don't.
In Literature:
• Candace Slater, Entangled Edens: Visions of the Amazon (2002)
1 An Introduction to Meaning and Purpose in Analytical Psychology (2002)
2 Scott Rains, "The Six Knows to Preparing to Travel" (2004)
Candace Slater, Entangled Edens: Visions of the Amazon (2002)