[HPforGrownups] Some questions/comments about GoF

[Barbara D. Poland-Waters]

No: HPFGUIDX 102072

First, I wrote:

> Is there any connection between the well known phrase "Abra Kadabra" 
> and the Avada Kedavra in the book. Is this JKR's way of taking a 
> popular "magical" phrase and adding some meaning to it?

Then Alina wrote:

>> I'm just going to copy/paste an article from the Encyclopedia Mythica. 
The HP Lexicon has the same information.

Abracadabra:
A Cabbalistic charm that was supposed to get rid of any illness if inscribed
on an amulet.
Its exact meaning is not clear, but there are several posibilities: the word
is formed of the first few letters of the Phoenician alphabet
(A-Bra-Ca-Dabra) or it is the name of an old disease demon. It could also be
derived from the Aramaic avada kedavra, meaning "may the thing be
destroyed", or from "abra kadibra" which is translated as "it will be made
like it is said." <<


Me again:

Thanks Alina! I haven't read the HP Lexicon in too much detail and I was
wondering if that was coincidental or something JKR intended. Looks like she
did her homework and made a very wise choice for that curse.

Barbara
bd-bear