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== From John Hall <[log in to unmask]> == >> Blowing out or away as an exorcism or in token of renunciation of the devil >> New Oxford Shorter English Dictionary 1993 >> >> "Christopher M. Mislow" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> "Exsufflating"? This is a new term to me (and to my supposedly unabridged >> Random House dictionary). What, praytell, does it -- and the action of >> exsufflating idols -- denote? Please forgive the admittedly off-topic speculation, but perhaps this practice is the origin of (or kindred to) that of "whistling in the graveyard" to ward off evil spirits. --Christopher