In the popular Soviet fairy tale "Barbara Beauty - A Long Scythe" the interesting word "prestidigit" is mentioned. And although the explanation is also given there "in their own way, this is prestidigitation, and, in our opinion, dexterity of legs and hypnosis," this outdated term is far from always used correctly and for its intended purpose.
What is a prestidigitator?
This obsolete word that has been used for quite a short time means a magician. Most often, this word was used in the old circus as a synonym for the word "manipulation". All magicians can conditionally be divided into two groups: illusionists working with the help of special devices and equipment, and manipulators or prestidigitators performing tricks thanks to unusually developed sleight of hand.
The origin of the term "prestidigitator", the correct pronunciation
This word came from the French "preste" - "fast", and the Latin "digitus" - fingers. Although some sources indicate the origin is not from French, but from the Italian or Latin word "presto", which also translates as "fast". That is, we can say that the prestidigitator is such a person who perfectly owns not only fingers, but also hands.
Not everyone will be able to pronounce this word the first time, and even more so to do it accurately. In the correct pronunciation, the emphasis is placed on the fifth, penultimate syllable - Atom.
Given the complexity of the word, it is not surprising that it did not take root in the Russian language and rather quickly came out of colloquial speech. It is not in vain that the hero of a fairy-tale film admits that it took him two years and one month to study at an overseas school, of which he studied two years to pronounce the word "presenter," and a month to hypnosis.
Who used to be called the prestidigitor?
As mentioned earlier, this word was used to refer to magicians working with hands and achieving the effects of the appearance, movement and disappearance of objects without the use of special equipment. For such tricks, scarves, bank cards, balls, money, billiard balls and other relatively small items are used. Moreover, the stake is placed not only on sleight of hand, but also on distracting the viewer from the subject with which manipulations are performed.
In addition, in the adventure novel by Vsevolod Krestovsky “Petersburg Slums”, a cheating specialty based on sleight of hand is described. As it is written in the novel, the most skilled cheaters were called dergachs and presidents. There is some evidence that the term "presidency" was also used to refer to card players who are dishonest. In addition, the phrase "sleight of hand and no fraud", which became popular after the release of the film "A ticket to life," is taken from the work of the German writer G. Heine "Romantic School". It is uttered by magician Yantien of Amsterdam, and in the original these words sound like “ One, two, three! Speed is not witchcraft at all,” which A. Gornfeld translated into “No witchcraft, but only sleight of hand”.
Where can I find the word "prestidigitator"
As mentioned above, many of us for the first, and possibly last time, heard this term in the popular fairy tale "Barbara Beauty - a Long Braid". In addition, the word "presenter" (what it is, you already know) can be found in many literary works:
- Petersburg Slums by V. Krestovsky;
- "Special" from the memoirs of P.A. Florensky;
- "Monday begins on Saturday," A. and B. Strugatsky;
- "Russian Circus", Yu. Dmitriev;
- "In Gold Binding", I. Ilf, E. Petrov;
- "Prestige", K. Priest.
Nowadays, you can periodically find this term in various articles of a convictive nature. The prestidigitizer, which is described in such materials, as a rule, according to the author, masterfully deceives everyone around, and no one will notice such manipulations, as in the circus.
Gardeners can mistakenly use this word, believing that the presidist is such a remedy for the Colorado potato beetle, wireworm and other pests. But this is not so. You will not find the Prestiditator sprayer for potatoes; the remedy you need is called the Prestiditizer.