K Kapusta Facts: This is a "memory word," a "secret code word that only you know the real, true meaning of . . . a key word that would trigger [a] memory . . . jog loose a cherished moment." In Literature: • "I started them off with a magical word of my own. 'Kapusta.' It was the name of the yellow-eyed, slate-grey cat who came to live with me after Greg died. I smiled when I said the word -- I knew they wouldn't understand it and I let it linger as an example to them of just how mystical and obscure their memory word could be." -- Theodore Menten, After Goodbye (1994) Kazam (see also alakazam) kazam!, we will have magic. -- Grant Dixon, Event Horizon: Hamilton Amateur Astronomers (1999) Mystique: Kazam is the "onomatopoetic description of the Big Bang."4 Meanings: • Instantly -- Eryk Hanut, The Road to Guadalupe: A Modern Pilgrimage to the Virgin of the Americas (2001) • Magic word -- Terry Pratchett, Sourcery (2001) • Vanish, disappear "Just kind of vanished -- kazam!" -- Frederick Barthelme, Elroy Nights (200 ) "[W]e have just two bales to go when the shift whistle blows. Kazam! Everyone splits." -- Mike O'Connor, When the Tiger Weeps (2004) Origins: The root of kazam is echoed in many languages. In Greek, "cassuma" is a cunning trick. In Arabic, "kazam" can refer to a sword, an oath, and avarice. In Hindi, "kasam" is an oath. Facts: A machine for molding plywood into complex curves was invented in 1941 and called "Kazam!" It took something flat and made it three-dimensional, like magic. Theodore Menten, After Goodbye (1994) 4 Robert V. Gentry, Creation's Tiny Mystery (2004) 5 John Morris, The New Nation Vol. 4 (1880) 6 Charlotte Fiell, Design of the 20th Century (2001)