The Art of Legerdemain

The word legerdemain has a history of trickery--sleight of hand, and we are fascinated with it, even thrilled by its ability to hold us in awe.
What is it about the notion of being befuddled, even tricked, that we readily agree to suspending our disbelief even for a moment?
Perhaps, deep down in the human psyche, hope is at the root of our actions--hope in the context of the possible amidst the impossible, success juxtaposed with the unlikely. We are basically dreamers.  Writers have reflected our own thoughts about hopes and dreams through the ages:


Shakespeare in The Tempest:  Prospero says, "We are such stuff as dreams are made on and our little life is rounded with a sleep." The play fills us with the magic that comes with love and redemption and happy endings, the perfect ingredients for a Shakespearean romantic comedy.


Paulo Coelho in The Alchemist: The Alchemist teaches Santiago that, "When you are loved, there's no need at all to understand what's happening, because everything happens within you, and even men can turn themselves into the wind." And Santiago does just that.


Langston Hughes in "Dream Deferred": "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" In Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun, the playwright transforms the painful racial integration of a white neighborhood into a triumph of magic to heal a broken family.


Our references to legerdemain are thus quite understandable, given our penchant for magic, even the metaphorical kind.  So, speaking of metaphors, we can easily use the word both metaphorically and literally. Placing an adjective before it turns legerdemain into a metaphor.


For example, while educational legerdemain might imply the magic of learning something new and helpful--a positive connotation of the word, political legerdemain could lead one to believe one has been duped by a more powerful authority--a negative connotation. Romantic legerdemain offers the magic of the sudden discovery of love in unexpected places, an often welcomed interpretation of the word.
In whatever way you choose to use the word, legerdemain renders precision in meaning, including imagery that shows as much as tells,  ideal circumstances for communicating.
Definition
Legerdemain:  sleight of hand; magic; trickery; deception; any artful trick


Pronunciation
(lej-er-duh-meyn)


Origin
Late Middle English (legerdemeyn, lygarde de mayne)  from Middle French (leger de main--translated literally, light of hand)
1400-1450


Part of Speech
Noun; adjectival noun


Examples
1.  The legerdemain of the loan officer created a magical illusion of prosperity for the young couple when she found them the lowest interest rate for their newly purchased home.


2.  What educational legerdemain did the English teacher conjure when all of her students passed the state exam, allowing them to graduate!


3.  Houdini's art of legerdemain was renown as he traveled from theatre to theatre in the South, escaping chains and adroitly tricking our eyes with his skillful cunning.




In his book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, Robert Fulghum wrote,
“I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death.”  When we use the word legerdemain literally or figuratively, we use it with an understanding and appreciation of the place that magic holds in the hearts and minds of our readers. And connecting with people can be magic in itself.