# Harry Potter and my idle musings

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-my-idle-musings/332745>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 25, 2005, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-my-idle-musings/332745 "2005-11-25T23:56:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Corii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Corii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corii)\
**Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-my-idle-musings/332745/1 "2005-11-25T23:56:10Z")

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“Avada Kedavra” sounds a lot like “Abracadabra” to me; did Ms. Rowling do that intentionally?

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**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-my-idle-musings/332745/2 "2005-11-26T00:02:06Z")

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Considering some of her other puns (Diagon Alley, Knockturn Alley), etc, I’m sure she did indeed.

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**Author:** ![Sweet\_Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@Sweet\_Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweet_Mercury)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-my-idle-musings/332745/3 "2005-11-26T00:26:10Z")

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> [@Corii](#):
>
> “Avada Kedavra” sounds a lot like “Abracadabra” to me; did Ms. Rowling do that intentionally?

I don’t know how accurate this information is, but [this](http://www.hp-lexicon.org/magic/spells/spells_a.html) is interesting:

> [@](#):
>
> Aramaic: “adhadda kedhabhra” - “let the thing be destroyed”.  
> NOTE: Abracadabra is a cabbalistic charm in Judaic mythology that is supposed to bring healing powers. One of its sources is believed to be from Aramaic avada kedavra, another is the Phoenician alphabet (a-bra-ca-dabra).

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**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-my-idle-musings/332745/4 "2005-11-26T03:34:13Z")

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JKR has confirmed that’s the etymology, Sweet Mercury, but I can’t remember where.

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**Author:** ![Sweet\_Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@Sweet\_Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweet_Mercury)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-my-idle-musings/332745/5 "2005-11-26T10:18:49Z")

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> [@Rysto](#):
>
> JKR has confirmed that’s the etymology, Sweet Mercury, but I can’t remember where.

Cool, thanks. If it were an important matter I might do some research, but oh well. I was aware that the term “abracadabra” came from Crowley, but I didn’t know if it had anything to do with Rowlings magical terms. She certainly does her research.

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-and-my-idle-musings/332745/6 "2005-11-26T16:23:38Z")

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I think it is a play on Cadaver, almost meaning “create cadaver” or to make a dead body. I notice in the movie it is pronounced with the stress on “ava” instead of “da” so it sounds quite different.