[Ads-l] mojo, jomo (1923)

[Andy Bach]

> We've previously discussed "mojo" ('magical charm') and its reversed form
"jomo."

Perhaps those stories would have had different endings if Lucille had
shouted "mojo" and William "jomo" - the juju just might have worked.

On Thu, Oct 4, 2018 at 10:27 AM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:

> We've previously discussed "mojo" ('magical charm') and its reversed form
> "jomo." OED3 has "mojo" from 1926 and mentions "jomo" in the etymology --
> Stephen Goranson found an example of the latter from 1925:
>
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2010-July/100787.html
>
> As I mention in my Wall St. Journal column this week (
> https://bit.ly/mojobz),
> both forms can be antedated to 1923, thanks to Newspapers.com. The cite for
> "jomo" is slightly earlier, though as we discussed before, "mojo" is likely
> the original form.
>
> ---
> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24238460/jomo/
> Anniston (Alabama) Star, Jan. 27, 1923, p. 1, col. 2
> "Jo-mo," shouted Lucille Drakes, negro woman, as the rent man approached
> her cabin.
> "Jo-mo, jo-mo," she repeated, rubbing a bundle of herbs reposing on her
> bounteous bosom.
> But the rent man paid no heed. He didn't even hesitate.
> Forward -- like the light brigade -- he advanced and demanded his rent.
> Lucile continued to should "jo-mo, jo-mo," and to massage the herbs under
> her dress; but the man didn't hypnotize -- for he even threatened to put
> her out in the street if she didn't pay.
> So Lucille paid -- and had "Dr." Matthew Taylor, negro voodoo specialist
> arrested because of the failure of his prescription to relieve her of the
> pain of paying rent. [...]
> First Lucille testified, telling how she paid the "doctor" $8 for a bundle
> of "jo-mo herbs" -- positively guaranteed to hypnotize the rent man and
> make him forget to ask payment. All you need to do is to place the herbs
> beneath your dress, wait 'till the rent man approaches, then rub the herbs
> and shout "jo-mo" three times.
> ---
> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24187727/mojo_bag/
> St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Oct. 24, 1923, p. 28, col. 5
> William Gassway, 49 years old, a negro, was freed today when Circuit Judge
> Grimm held that he had not committed grand larceny when he sold to John
> Rogers, another negro, a Mojo bag for $85 on July 26.
> The Mojo bag was guaranteed to be a charm strong enough to soften the heart
> of John's wife, Amelia, who had fled to Wisconsin after renouncing her
> husband. John took it to Wisconsin and said, "Amelia, come back home."
> Despite the Mojo bag, Amelia shouted "No!" John testified today. The Judge
> sustained a demurrer by counsel for Gassway, who contended that he had been
> wrongfully charged. Selling Rogers a bag with a lump of coal in it was a
> business transaction of questionable nature possibly, but not grand
> larceny, it was held.
> ---
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


-- 

a

Andy Bach,
afbach at gmail.com
608 658-1890 cell
608 261-5738 wk

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org