Jinks Hoodoo again

[Douglas G. Wilson]

Here is a transitional instance of "Jinks Hoodoo", the apparent ancestor
of the modern word "jinx". From the "Chronicling America" site.

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_Salt Lake Herald_ (Salt Lake City UT), 24 Dec. 1895: p. 8:

<<But a whole page of Herald and Tribune notices combined could not have
rescued the affair from the failure to which it was foredoomed when its
management was entrusted to the hands of a "manager" who combined in so
eminent a degree the qualities of a Jonah and a Jinks Hoodoo.>>

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Apparently this writer perceived a distinction of some sort between "a
Jinks Hoodoo" and "a Jonah" (which seem to have been at least near
synonyms). Possibly he took "Jonah" to mean "one who carries bad luck
for his companions" and "Jinks Hoodoo" to mean "one who carries bad luck
for himself [too]"?

-- Doug Wilson

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