Magic bullet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A magic bullet is a fabulously accurate weapon, or more generally a tool.
- The original "magic bullet" of German folklore, which was enchanted and could not miss its mark, made its debut into the wider European consciousness as a feature of Carl Maria von Weber's ghostly opera Der Freischütz, first performed in Berlin in 1821.
- The phrase is used disparagingly by conspiracy theorists to describe the single bullet theory of the John F. Kennedy assassination.
- Paul Ehrlich used the phrase to describe his goal: a cure for syphilis which would attack the syphilis bacterium while having no effect whatsoever on human tissue. He also applied the term to the drug he developed, Salvarsan (arsphenamine). Salvarsan turned out to have significant deleterious side effects; however, the phrase "magic bullet" has become associated with Ehrlich, Salvarsan, and by extension any wished-for drug.
- The Magic Bullet is a 1940 Hollywood biographic film about Ehrlich starring Edward G. Robinson.
- "Magic bullet principle" is another term for the hypodermic needle model, a theory in communication research which says all media audiences receive and process media messages in the same way.
- The Magic Bullet is also the name of a kitchen appliance.
- The Magic Bullet is a weapon in Worms Armageddon. Given a target, it is highly accurate and will fly around obstacles for longer and with more agility than the Homing Missile or Homing Pigeon.
- The magic bullet software is used for video editing.
