The winner of day 7’s drawing is:
As a reminder, every entry this week keeps you in each day’s drawing for a book, and also for winner’s choice of one of two necklaces from Inspired Novelties–so keep those entries coming, and please do share! Last week we ended up with over 1,000 entries, which was pretty awesome! =) Let’s see if we can get it even higher this week. =)
Now for today!
Word of the Week . . . Sleight
I admit it–this is one I’d never paid attention to before. I’m sure I’ve seen “sleight of hand” written out correctly like so, but I never paused to realize it was spelled with an ‘e’.
And I’m not the only one who has written this as “slight of hand.” Slight makes sense there, implying light, nimble fingers. There’s even a phrase from French that means “light of hand” literally, used the same way.
Sleight, however, comes from a whole different word. An Old Norse one that made its way to English waaaaay back in the 13th century. It means “cunning.” Which makes even more sense in “sleight of hand,” doesn’t it?
That phrase, by the way, has been around since 1400. Whodathunk it was so old?
My question for you today:
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.
This wasn't recent (!), but when I was a kid, there was a magician at our neighborhood community center. He pulled a coin out of my ear that still freaks me out to this day! It felt like it came right out of my ear!!
I haven't seen any magic tricks in a very long time! I am interested in that new movie that is coming out (or is out) about the magicians though!
No, I haven't seen any slight of hand things lately, but I think David Blaine is great!
wfnren(at)aol(dot)com
There were several mind-blowing tricks in the movie Now You See Me!
I forgot to answer your question. I haven't seen any sleight of hand tricks in a long time. I don't watch much TV or see very many movies so those aren't possibilities for seeing any either.
This was fascinating information. Thanks for sharing it. I've never noticed the difference in spelling. Now I'll be looking for it whenever I see this phrase.
No, I haven't
Fun! The one we just saw was at a church camp, also by a pastor. Loved the way he wove messages into the illusions!
Oh, that sounds like a fun collection!
I haven't seen it either. =)
Yep, those get me too!
That would be adorable for sure–my 5 and 7 year olds like to pretend, but it involves a lot of "Close your eyes. Okay, NOW!" 😉 I should find some way to teach them some tricks for real. They'd love it.
That sounds pretty amazing–and flashy!
I so rarely have a clue how they do what they do. Which is the fun of it. =)
I haven't seen a trick recently, but I do have a friend that is a magician. He does tricks that blow my mind. 🙂
Hallo, Ms. White! 🙂
On AGT {America's Got Talent}, there was a young man {18, I believe} who was an aspiring professional magician. He asked for a dollar bill from one of the judges, which Howie provided, and he took a bag of snacks from backstage which supposedly belonged to Nick Cannon. What happened next was quite smashing, because he used fire and sleight of hand to make the bill disappear! Another judge was told to open the bag, and guess what was inside!?
This was a few weeks ago, but it never left me, because I am always curious how magicians and illusionists can perform these amazing tricks of sight.
would love to win. Angela from KY
angelachesnut246[at]gmail.com
My Dad and my father-in-law are magicians, so this post cracked me up! My husband has actually been teaching our 6yo and 8yo some quarter tricks. Nothing cuter than a 6 year old manipulating a quarter and making it disappear!
Most magic tricks of any kind amaze me – one of my favorites is the magician guessing info a participant has written down & is hiding from him.
Thanks for the giveaway opportunity!
bonnieroof60(at)yahoo(dot)com
Sorry havent seen any sleight of hand tricks.
God bless All of you Have a great day
I really wanted to see "Now You See Me" but I missed it…I'll have to wait until it's out on DVD.
What a fascinating word. I love cards. I have a card collection, actually. But I haven't seen any card trick recently, I'm afraid.
I haven't seen any card tricks in a while. I enjoyed the info on sleight, words are so amazing!
Funny, I just watched The Sting for the first time, which definitely has some in it. Otherwise, an old pastor every Easter did a trick with a silver dollar and envelopes to represent Jesus being put in the graveclothes, in the tomb, stone rolled in front – so by then it was in at least three envelopes stuffed inside each other – and somehow, the silver dollar was never in there when a kid got to open them, just like Jesus!
Now You See Me is the best sleight of hand movie I've ever seen!
Love that word! Interesting. 🙂 I haven't seen any magic tricks lately, but the sleight of hand card ones are my favorite.
farmygirl at hotmail dot com
I too have not received any sleight of hand tricks lately. But your post was interesting. I have also shared on facebook: facebook.com/angela.holland.359/posts/700668563296121
griperang at embarqmail dot com
Haha I've never noticed that!
Last sleight of hand I saw was a card trick my little brother was showing us!
I haven't seen any sleight of hand tricks for ages actually. Clever!!
I started watching Brain Games on national Geographic I think it was and they have tons of tricks like that. Super fun to watch and try to figure out