Giving them too much power?

[Olùkọ́ Ọbádélé]

I've often overheard people saying, "don't talk about X so much, if you talk about X you'll give X too much power."

Has anyone ever heard this type of expression? Most often it is said when white folks are brought up. (To try it yourself and see if you've heard this before, you can replace the X above with "white folks" or any name that you call them by). This expression is also used as a warning against talking about individuals.


So I was wondering if this power giving/receiving dynamic actually exists? If so, has anyone ever been the recipient of this type of "given power"? What did it feel like when you were given this power. Were you able to fly? Glow in the dark? Pay your bills? Were you given "too much" of this power? Did this "overgiving" enable you to have any special or even superhuman abilities that you didn't have before someone was mentioning you, your name or some deed of yours outside of your presence (like the ability to recognize from a distance that someone was talking about you and therefore capitalize on the opportunity to receive power from them unbeknownst to the power giver)?

I have heard it said many times that people were giving too much power, but I have never heard it said that someone was receiving too much power or any power at all.

The testimonial of any real life power recipient will do here or even a first hand witness who actually observed someone in the act of power reception. Thank you.