Joseph Haworth- Jekyll & Hyde- 1901

[Howard Brown]

Cleveland Plain Dealer
October 1, 1901
************
http://i908.photobucket.com/albums/ac287/HowieNina/Autumn%202011/haw.jpg

[Tom_Wescott]

What is 'legerdemain'?

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Howard Brown]

Sleight of hand, Tom....like when a magician pulls something outta his sleeve.

It comes from the French phrase leger de main...

[Tom_Wescott]

Very interesting. Do those French words actually translate to 'sleight of hand'?

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Howard Brown]

Tom:

In French it means "light of hand"...in this instance "leger" being an adjective

[Nemo]

"The hand is quicker than the eye" is a related phrase in conjuring terms

There's quite a bit of other jargon used by magicians and conjurers in describing their actions, props, cards and audience

I think "legerdemain" was one of the earliest terms used to describe a magician's actions and particularly referred to skill in palming coins, cards and other small objects IIRC

[Tom_Wescott]

Thanks for the info, H and Neems.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[WRITEFX]

I can see quite a bit in that account that could be used for future captions about How LOL

Legerdemain - have you heard of that film called The Pristine? I hope I've got the name right.