Ajinx (alsojynx), in popularsuperstition andfolklore, is a curse or the attribute of attracting bad or negative luck.
TheOnline Etymology Dictionary states thatjynx, meaning a charm or spell, was in usage in English as early as the 1690s.[1] The same source states that "jinx", with that specific spelling, is first attested inAmerican English in 1911. Jynx/jinx is traced to the 17th-century wordjyng, meaning "a spell", and ultimately to the Latin wordiynx, also spelledjynx, as 'j' and 'i' are the same letter in Latin.[2] The Latiniynx came from the Greek name of thewryneck,iunx, associated with sorcery; not only was the bird used in the casting of spells and indivination, but the Ancient Romans and Greeks traced the bird's mythological origins to a sorceress namedIynx, who was transformed into this bird to punish her for a spell cast on the godZeus.
A character named Mr Jinx appeared inBallou's monthly magazine – Volume 6, page 276, in 1857.[citation needed]
Barry Popik of theAmerican Dialect Society suggests that the word can be traced back to an American folksong calledCaptain Jinks of the Horse Marines written by William Lingard in 1868.[citation needed]
In 1887, the character Jinks Hoodoo, described as "a curse to everybody, including himself" appeared in the musical comedyLittle Puck, and the name was quickly picked up by the press.[3]
One of the uses of the word "jinx" has been in the context ofbaseball; in the short storyThe Jinx (1910) – later collected in the bookThe 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
But the ball players instantly knew the truth. "A jinx, a jinx," they whispered along the bench. "Cross-eyed girl sittin' over there back o' third. See her ? She's got Th' Dasher. Holy smoke, look at them eyes!"Like the discreet and experienced manager he was, McNabb did not chasten his men in this hour of peril. He treated the matter just as seriously as they, condoling with The Dasher, bracing up the Yeggman, execrating the jinx and summoning all his occult strategy to outwit it.[4]
And later referenced inPitching at a Pinch (1912),Christy Mathewson[3] 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 alsoCurse of the Bambino.
In 2017 theMSQueen Victoria was described as "jinxed" after suffering two misfortunes within three weeks of each other,[5] In the 20th century, the Australian aircraft carrierHMASMelbourne was sometimes said to be jinxed, having twice struck a friendly ship, with considerable loss of life.