presto chango

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English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From presto + rhyming variation of change.

Pronunciation

Interjection

presto chango

  1. (informal) Indicates 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.
    • 1937 April 24, Washington Post, page 12:
      PRESTO CHANGO! From a dreary, commonplace piece to a smart colorful chair shining with personality.
    • 1978, Richard Rhodes, Holy Secrets, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 31:
      "...An' presto-chango, you got yourself a twenty-eight-by-sixty-foot house."
    • 1983, Lois Lowry, Taking Care of Terrific, Houghton Mifflin Children's Books, →ISBN, page 158:
      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.
    • 2000, Candace Sherk Savage, Witch: The Wild Ride from Wicked to Wicca, Sterling Publishing, →ISBN, page 8:
      Watch and before your eyes, presto chango, a capital crime of the most hideous sort will be turned into a superstition,....
    • 2014, Mike Lutz, God Every Day: 365 Life Application Devotions:
      Jesus is the ultimate stain lifter. He removes the stain of our sin, and presto, chango!