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xyzzy


xyzzy: /X-Y-Z-Z-Y/, /X-Y-ziz'ee/, /ziz'ee/, or /ik-ziz'ee/
   [from the ADVENT game] adj. The canonical `magic word'.
   This comes from ADVENT, in which the idea is to explore an
   underground cave with many rooms and to collect the treasures you
   find there.  If you type `xyzzy' at the appropriate time, you can
   move instantly between two otherwise distant points.  If,
   therefore, you encounter some bit of magic, you might remark
   on this quite succinctly by saying simply "Xyzzy!"  "Ordinarily
   you can't look at someone else's screen if he has protected it, but
   if you type quadruple-bucky-clear the system will let you do it
   anyway."  "Xyzzy!"  Xyzzy has actually been implemented as an
   undocumented no-op command on several OSes; in Data General's
   AOS/VS, for example, it would typically respond "Nothing
   happens", just as ADVENT did if the magic was invoked at the
   wrong spot or before a player had performed the action that enabled
   the word.  In more recent 32-bit versions, by the way, AOS/VS
   responds "Twice as much happens".  See also plugh.