h • Mumbo jumbo "[J]ust the sort of thing one calls in English 'mumbo-jumbo' (or in German Hokuspokus)." -- Karl Popper, The Myth of the Framework (1994) • Nonsense syllables -- Nicola Pressburger, Homage to the Eighth District (1990) • Secret "The hokus pokus is to apply to the nut and stem of the whip and flat top of the insulator a coat of Plio-bond, a glue which will stick anything to anything." -- Air Facts (19 8) • Vulgar sorcery -- Helmut Hoffmann, The Religions of Tibet (1961) Origins: Hokus pokus is the Germanic/Scandinavian spelling of hocus pocus. While traveling through Arabia, Jonathan Raeban records a magi cian announcing "every new transformation" with the words "haukus bo aukus." He writes, "I was as interested to discover where 'hokus pokus' came from as I was in the reappearance of the Ace of Spades or the missing banknote." 7 Facts: The book The Little Man by Erich Kästner (1966) features a famous conjuror named Professor Hokus von Pokus. In 1625, the playwright Ben Johnson reported a stage magician called Hokus Pokus. 8 Variations and Incantations: • Hokey Pokey -- Professional magician Steve Charney, Hocus Jokus: 50 Funny Magic Tricks Complete with Jokes (200 ) • Hokus, hokey, hokum -- Henry J. Taylor, Men and Moments (1966) • Hokus Jokus -- Professional magician Steve Charney, Hocus Jokus: 50 Funny Magic Tricks Complete with Jokes (200 ) • Hokus mokus "[I]t'll be hokus-mokus all the blessed time." -- Joan Aiken, The Stolen Lake (1981) • Hokus Pocus -- Thomas Hart Benton, quoted in Benton, Pollock, and the Politics of Modernism by Erika Doss (1991) 7 Arabia Through the Looking Glass (1979) 8 Allan Zola Kronzek, The Sorcerer's Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter (2001)