A jinx (also jynx), in popular

superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic (supernatural), magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly app ...

and

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

, is a curse or the attribute of attracting bad or negative luck. Examples of "jinxing" in the 21st-century press include the suggestion a ship might be "jinxed". The connection was made with two cruise liners, the MS ''Queen Victoria'' and the '' Emerald Princess'', after misfortunes. In the 20th century, the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS ''Melbourne'' was sometimes said to be jinxed, having twice struck a friendly ship, with considerable loss of life.

Etymology

The ''Online Etymology Dictionary'' states that "jynx", meaning a charm or spell, was in usage in English as early as the 1690s. The same source states that "jinx", with that specific spelling, is first attested in

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...

in 1911. Jynx/jinx is traced to the 17th-century word ''jyng'', meaning "a spell", and ultimately to the Latin word ''iynx'', also spelled ''jynx'', as 'j' and 'i' are the same letter in Latin. The Latin ''iynx'' came from the Greek name of the wryneck bird, ''iunx'', associated with sorcery; not only was the bird used in the casting of spells and in

divination Divination () is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic ritual or practice. Using various methods throughout history, diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a should proceed by reading signs, ...

, but the Ancient Romans and Greeks traced the bird's mythological origins to a sorceress named Iynx, who was transformed into this bird to punish her for a spell cast on the god

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

History

A ''"Mr Jinx"'' appeared in ''Ballou's monthly magazine'' – Volume 6, page 276, in 1857. Barry Popik of the

American Dialect Society The American Dialect Society (ADS), founded in 1889, is a learned society "dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, and of other languages, or dialects of other languages, influencing it or influenced by it." The Society p ...

suggests that the word should be traced back to an American folksong called ''Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines'' written by William Lingard in 1868. In 1887, the character Jinks Hoodoo, described as ''"a curse to everybody, including himself"'' appeared in the musical comedy ''Little Puck'', and the name was quickly picked up by the press.

In sports

One of the uses of the word "jinx" has been in the context of

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

; in the short story ''The Jinx'' (1910) – later collected in the book ''The Jinx: Stories of the Diamond'' (1911) – Allen Sangree wrote:

By th' bones of Mike Kelly, I'll do it! Yes, sir, I'll hoodoo th' whole darned club, I will. I'll put a jinx on 'em or my name ain't Dasher, an' that goes!

And again And later referenced in ''Pitching at a Pinch'' (1912),

Christy Mathewson Christopher Mathewson (August 12, 1880 – October 7, 1925), nicknamed "Big Six," "the Christian Gentleman," "Matty," and "the Gentleman's Hurler," was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball for ...

explained that "a jinx is something which brings bad luck to a ball player." Baseball's most common "jinx" belief is that talking about a pitcher's ongoing no-hitter will cause it to be ended. See also

Curse of the Bambino The Curse of the Bambino was a superstitious Sports-related curses, sports curse in Major League Baseball (MLB) derived from the List of Major League Baseball franchise postseason droughts#Longest World Series championship droughts through hist ...

References

{{Superstitions Luck Curses