presto chango

[ cheyn-joh ]

/ ˈtʃeɪn dʒoʊ /

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verb (used without object)

change at once (usually used imperatively, as in a magician's command).

noun

a change occurring suddenly and as if by magic: There is always an element of presto chango in international relations.

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CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

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Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of presto chango

Rhyming alteration of change

Words nearby presto chango

prestige pricing, prestigious, prestissimo, prest money, presto, presto chango, Preston, Prestonpans, prestore, prestress, prestressed concrete

How to use presto chango in a sentence

“We used to go for food at a little Italian place on Old Compton Street called Presto,” says Burston.
The Queer Genius of Film Director Derek Jarman|Tim Teeman|November 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
By simply saying those nine simple words we can magically claim anything for Islam, presto-chango.
Bill O’Reilly, Muslim-Hunter|Dean Obeidallah|June 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We feel we are being chased, by history, by Cuban military, by Chango, the warrior king and Obba, the woman he rejected.
Great Weekend Reads: 4 New Novels, November 13, 2011|Susan Salter Reynolds, Christopher Byrd, John Wilwol, Jennifer Miller|November 13, 2011|DAILY BEAST
And presto: polio returned—first in Nigeria then across Africa and into Asia, following an established migration pattern.
The CIA's Dangerous Vaccine Stunt|Kent Sepkowitz|July 13, 2011|DAILY BEAST

Toss a Cinderella- or Stockholm Syndrome-type victim into the mix and presto!
Wives Gone Wild!|Elizabeth Hayt|February 26, 2009|DAILY BEAST
But these people are wholly on wires; laying their ears down, skimming away, pausing as though shot, and presto!
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 25 (of 25)|Robert Louis Stevenson
Mr. Jefferson, happening by mistake to pass over one of the many names of benefactors, and, presto!
The Onlooker, Volume 1, Part 2|Various
A clerk on a stool, and hey presto plunged into the war a month after, shouldering a gun and marching.
Lord Ormont and his Aminta, Complete|George Meredith
Then Mrs. Spider came along, and she spun some glossy silk web over the places where the seams were, and presto-chango!
Lulu, Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble|Howard R. Garis
Victor had much difficulty in reading the notes readily and not confounding the terms adagio, presto, and sforzando.
Bouvard and Pcuchet, part 2|Gustave Flaubert