fairy dust

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English

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Etymology

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Based on the story of the fictional character Peter Pan, see quotations.

Pronunciation

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  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

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fairy dust (uncountable)

  1. (fiction) A magical powder that would give the power of flight to whoever it was sprinkled on.
  2. (by extension) Any apparently magical ingredient or effect; a panacea.
    • 2011 May 19, Megan McArdle, quoting Matt Yglesias, “When Should Governments Contract Out?”, in The Atlantic[1], Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC:
      It's not that some magic private sector fairy dust makes the firms all be runs[sic] soundly. Lots of bad businesses are out there. But they tend to lose money and close.
      (Can we archive this URL?)
  3. (slang) The drug phencyclidine.
    Synonym: angel dust
    • 2001, Simon Logan, I-O, Prime, →ISBN, page 102:
      This led to a certain amount of complacency on my part and certainly the fairy dust and mescaline cocktails I took day and night could only have contributed to my uncommonly satiated drive for a good fuck.

Translations

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See also

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Further reading

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