In thrillers, where did they coin the term "MacGuffin"?

Question

Because I was actually watching "Adventures in Babysitting" tonight and thought, "Hey, the Playboy magazine is the MacGuffin in this movie!" If you don't know what a MacGuffin is, then nevermind (I already do). But if you know where the term came from, please tell.

Answer 1

that would be good ole alfred hitchcock.. who popularized the term and the technique.

its a plot device used to move a story along by motivating the characters but otherwise has little signifigant value, or relevance to the story.

an example of a macguffin in modern cinema is the briefcase in Pulp fiction. we neevr get to see whats so importan about it but it motivates characters throuout the story.

thers a little article that explains more fully but alfred hitchcock si the answer you seek.

Answer 2

in accordance to lexicographer Jesse Sheidlower, the central American editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, the words hipster and hippie derive from the word hip, whose origins are unknown.[26] The term hipster replaced into coined with tips from Harry Gibson in 1940,[27] and replaced into normally used interior the Forties and Fifties to describe jazz performers.