Nabba-Gadobba

Nabba-Gadobba is a pseudo-Babylonian magic word invented by humorist Peggy Sherman. In her “Fact Free Fables,” Sherman explains that: “Court jesters in ancient Babylon used the word ‘Nabba-Gadobba!’ when they performed the age-old trick of transforming a handful of women’s undergarments into a pair of dodo birds. The exclamation rapidly fell from existence with the rest of the empire.”