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automagically /aw-toh-maj'i-klee/ adv.

Automatically, but in a way that, for some reason (typically

because it is too complicated, or too ugly, or perhaps even too

trivial), the speaker doesn't feel like explaining to you. See

magic. "The C-INTERCAL compiler

generates C, then automagically invokes cc(1) to

produce an executable."

This term is quite old, going back at least to the mid-70s in

jargon and probably much earlier. The word `automagic' occurred

in advertising (for a shirt-ironing gadget) as far back as the

late 1940s.

The Jargon File, Version 4.2.2, 20 Aug 2000 · 第 149 / 1941 题