MAGIC WORDS • "The End" -- Hillel Halkin, Across the Sabbath River (2002) Origins: Aborizah is purportedly a corruption of the Hebrew words ha-borey Yah, an ending to a prayer.21 Abra (see abracadabra) Meanings: • Become • Create • Transform Facts: Abra is the first part of the famous magic word abracadabra and is sometimes treated as a separate word (when abracadabra is written as the phrase "Abra Cadabra"). Abra, "the female form of Abraham, was most widely used [as a girl's name] in seventeenth-century England, making a later appearance in the John Steinbeck novel and James Dean movie East of Eden. But while the name itself has a good deal of creative charm, a girl named Abra could easily tire of it being followed by 'Cadabra.'" In the Pokemon card game, the character Abra evolves into Kadabra and finally into Alakazam, who has strong psychic powers. Variations and Incantations: • Abra and cadabra -- Steven L. Case, The Book of Uncommon Prayer (2002) • Abra-dee, abra-do, with a hay and a ho and a nonny nonny no! These magic words to grant a wish are featured in an episode of the television series Today's Special (1982) • Abra without the cadabra -- Stephen A. Devaux, Total Project Control (1999) • Abre This Spanish word, meaning "it opens," is used as a magic word in the animated television series Dora the Explorer (2001). 21 Hillel Halkin, Across the Sabbath River (2002) 22 Linda Rosenkrantz, Baby Names Now (1995)