30 Harry Potter Spells and Word Origins

You’ll learn where Dumbledore’s name comes from and how the etymology of "horcrux" has been debated. Users of the three Unforgivable Curses and and Emma Watson super-fans will want to watch.

[joewilson]

A squib is also a term used in fire arms when there is enough powder in a round to make it discharge, but not enough to make it effective. Associated with the phrase "Pop and no kick". It's usually associated with a malfunction, but you could technically do it on purpose if you wanted to make blanks or target rounds.

[LangThoughts]

I can understand Aramaic, and "Avada Kedavra" actually means "I destroy as I speak". It seems Rowling had a bad source, even for the apocryphal story.
Edit: Davra actually means "Thing" as well as "I speak", but the ke- prefix makes it a verb, as otherwise it would mean "I destroy that which is like the thing".

[maddie]

Took a bit for me to notice the increasing number of Harry Potter accessories Erin was adding between cuts

[thomasgerard]

Speaking as a French person, Voldemort's name means "flight of death" less than it means "stealing of death", 'vol' comes from the verb 'voler' which means 'to steal' and considering Tom made seven horcruxes to cheat death the second meaning is more likely.

[kevinroberts]

Erin, how long have you been waiting to do this video?

[cappyjones]

For those who experience ASMR, each person has different triggers. Whispering and smacky mouths do nothing for me. Scalp scratching, Bob Ross like voices and tapping sounds make my scalp tingle and put me straight to sleep. 😁👍

[maddie]

Let's see here, ASMR facts ...


There are different types of triggers, some of which are more likely to induce a tingling sensation in a given individual than others. Common ones include eating sounds, tapping, whispering, tongue clicking, and hand movements. Some individuals don't seem to be sensitive to the phenomenon at all.


Even if you don't get the classic tingling sensation, ASMR can induce sleepiness or relaxation.


Excessive exposure to ASMR videos can desensitize you to the tingling effect. This is called "tingle immunity" in the community.


Roleplay videos, where the ASMR creator, or ASMRtist (like artist, but replace art with ASMR) plays a character, are popular, but I don't know if that helps or if it just makes the videos more entertaining.


The phenomenon first gained attention in 2007 on the web forum Steady Health. There was initially disagreement on what to call the phenomenon, with "Attention Induced Head Orgasm" or AIHO, being somewhat common early on, although many objected because they felt it was a non-sexual phenomenon, and didn't wish for it to be viewed that way, but the term ASMR is attributed to Jennifer Allen, who coined it in 2010. Soon thereafter, ASMR videos exploded in popularity, gaining mainstream attention by 2012, when Vice did a profile on GentleWhispering, one of the most popular ASMRists, then and now.

[ThatSoddingGamer]

Animagus could also be broken down as 'anima' (soul), and magus (magician). Made into a portmanteau it can become 'animagus'. Less apt than simply smashing 'animal' and 'magus' together though. Just an interesting factoid that you can break down the term into two different etymological origins, though like I said one is more apt than the other.

[robertneal]

Hippogryphs have existed in fantasy fiction and gaming long before Rowling wrote her books. One example is found in the Monster Manual of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons published in the late 1970s.

[VideoNozoki]

Someone PLEASE tell Erin what to do with her hands!
(she ALWAYS has a "Why?! No, why?!" gesture throughout all her videos)

[arrowghost]

Wow, as you whisper in the microphone, you remind me of Star Butterfly reciting the Whispering Spell that destroys magic

[pyrotheevilplatypus]

Wait, ALOHAmora has nothing to do with welcome?!?!

[GloriaJWimberley]

~Sincerely fascinating video! Love this :-)

[armaanmehfuz]

Being a speaker of Bengali, a descendent of Sanskrit, the only term I can vouch for is NAGINI
It means a female Naga, and is pronounced in my language exactly the ways as it's spelled by Rowling

[rossgirven]

I don’t think “Adava Kedavra” is anything to do with foreign languages.

I’m pretty sure JK just thaught “if I cast this spell “I’D HAVE A CADAVER!”

[zero]

6:37 it sounds like you’re giving the Harry Potter series credit for the origin of the 2000 year old word hippogriff.

[TigerBlackTigerBlackTigerBlack]

Fun fact about ASMR. When it first came out it made me feel really uncomfortable. It still makes me feel uncomfortable to this day.

[JeanLoupRSmith]

Given that the French for wand is baguette, which the English speaking world mostly associates with long doughy bread sticks, Rowling didn't have much of a choice to name the French school. Bellesbaguettes just wouldn't have worked.

I'd still like to know why this is a girl school only (apparently) while Durmstrang is boys only. It's almost as if she was trying to make Hogwarts more forward looking or something...

[YeeSoest]

This is how my gf convinced me to watch the movies. Sectumsempra, horcrux, azkaban are such cool words...unlike quidditch and (in the german version at least) some other terms. A hobby linguist who has learned latin since 5th grade and a nag for puns has to appreciate that

[rea]

Actually, if the spells are in Latin it's because J.K. Rowling wrote her books in Coimbra, Portugal. There is even a library that looks exactly like the one where harry buy books (which is quite a touristic hotspot now) and students wear cloaks there! Google it, it's a lot of fun!