presto chango

English

Alternative forms

• presto changeo
• presto change-o

Etymology

From presto + rhyming variation of change.

Interjection

presto chango

1. (informal) Indicates the suddenness of a change or transformation, as a magic trick in which one object appears to be suddenly transformed into another.
   • 1929, Business Week, advertisement,

     Just one touch lets you go from black to a second color. Presto. Chango. Or back to black. Presto. Chango. Color copies have never been easier.

   • 1937 April 24, Washington Post, page 12:

     PRESTO CHANGO! From a dreary, commonplace piece to a smart colorful chair shining with personality.

   • 1978, Richard Rhodes, Holy Secrets, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 31:

     "...An' presto-chango, you got yourself a twenty-eight-by-sixty-foot house."

   • 1983, Lois Lowry, Taking Care of Terrific, Houghton Mifflin Children's Books, →ISBN, page 158:

     Tom nodded solemnly. "Presto Chango," he said. Then he looked at the policeman again. "My name is Joshua Cameron," he announced, and the policeman wrote that down.

   • 2000, Candace Sherk Savage, Witch: The Wild Ride from Wicked to Wicca, Sterling Publishing, →ISBN, page 8:

     Watch and before your eyes, presto chango, a capital crime of the most hideous sort will be turned into a superstition,....

   • 2014, Mike Lutz, God Every Day: 365 Life Application Devotions:

     Jesus is the ultimate stain lifter. He removes the stain of our sin, and presto, chango!