magic smoke
- noun
- Jargon
:
humo mágico
- We knew the old computer was finished as soon as the magic smoke started billowing out.
Examples
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When the capacitor blew, the distinctive smell of magic smoke filled the lab.
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Don't let out the magic smoke, or the circuit board will never work again.
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The device stopped working after releasing magic smoke.
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I think I saw some magic smoke come out of the computer!
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We knew the old computer was finished as soon as the magic smoke started billowing out.
-
When the capacitor blew, the distinctive smell of magic smoke filled the lab.
-
Don't let out the magic smoke, or the circuit board will never work again.
Synonyms
109
7.2
A sign that something may be wrong or hidden
Surface Forms
Morphology
Although 'magic' and 'smoke' are individually transparent, the specific humorous/technical meaning (the jokey idea that electronic devices work because of an internal 'magic smoke' and fail when it escapes) is cultural jargon and not derivable from the literal constituents. A B1 learner who knows the words would likely interpret it as some kind of supernatural smoke or poetic phrase, but would not predict the specialized electronics joke without prior exposure.
Etymology
Magic smoke comes from a joke by people who fix electronics: they pretended a device worked because of some magic inside, and when a part burned it let out smoke, so the device 'stopped working'. So today magic smoke is a funny name for the smoke you see when an electronic part fails and the idea that the device only worked while that smoke stayed inside.