presto chango

alternative presto changeo · alternative presto change-o

1. informalIndicates the suddenness of a change or transformation, as a magic trick in which one object appears to be suddenly transformed into another.

   1929, Business Week, advertisement, Just one touch lets you go from black to a second color. Presto. Chango. Or back to black. Presto. Chango. Color copies have never been easier.

   5 more examples

   PRESTO CHANGO! From a dreary, commonplace piece to a smart colorful chair shining with personality.

   1937 April 24, Washington Post, page 12

   "...An' presto-chango, you got yourself a twenty-eight-by-sixty-foot house."

   1978, Richard Rhodes, Holy Secrets, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 31

   Tom nodded solemnly. "Presto Chango," he said. Then he looked at the policeman again. "My name is Joshua Cameron," he announced, and the policeman wrote that down.

   1983, Lois Lowry, Taking Care of Terrific, Houghton Mifflin Children's Books, →ISBN, page 158

   Watch and before your eyes, presto chango, a capital crime of the most hideous sort will be turned into a superstition,....

   2000, Candace Sherk Savage, Witch: The Wild Ride from Wicked to Wicca, Sterling Publishing, →ISBN, page 8

   Jesus is the ultimate stain lifter. He removes the stain of our sin, and presto, chango!

   2014, Mike Lutz, God Every Day: 365 Life Application Devotions

   Synonyms: hey presto, presto, abracadabra, alakazam, hey pass, hey presto, hocus-pocus, kazaam