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talisman n.
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An object marked with magical signs and believed to confer
on its bearer supernatural powers or protection.
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Anything having apparently magical power.
 Analytic
reasoning, experimental evidence -- these are the preeminent forces that
rule my thought-life (see dyskeptia).
Magical powers need not apply.
Here's a guy...
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who heedlessly spills salt and breaks mirrors,
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who cheerfully strolls under ladders and steps on cracks,
and
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who, with no dread whatsoever, squints at the evil eye.
All of that started in the late 30's. I found a four-leaf
clover once and showed it to Billy Sharp, whose eyes bulged in wonderment.
Then I ate it.
Within a week, the shocking news had reached
all corners of the neighborhood. My mother was chagrined. Almost
as much as when I went around disabusing my schoolmates of Easter Lore
and Yuletide Myths.
Kindergarten was a busy year for the Iconoclast of Compton. |