Jinx (children's game)

A jinx, or "personal jinx", is a children's game (although not necessarily played only by children) with myriad highly varied rules and penalties that occurs when two people accidentally speak (or type) the same word or phrase simultaneously.

Rules

A jinx can be initiated when at least two people in casual conversation unintentionally say (or type, in the case of Internet jinx) the same word or phrase at the same time. If one of them (the "jinxer") yells "Jinx!" before any further conversation has begun, the other person (the "jinxee") is in a state of being "jinxed" and may not speak further until they are "released" from the jinx. The rules for what constitutes such a release vary. Traditionally, a jinx is ended when anyone speaks the jinxed person's name. However, a common variation says that only the jinxer can free the jinxee from their obligation to remain silent. (This is sometimes called a "private jinx" or "jinx personal lock".)

The game ends when either the jinxee is released from the jinx or when the jinxee "breaks" the jinx by speaking while in a state of being jinxed. In the latter case, the Jinxee loses the game and a penalty is exacted. There can only be one penalty or the game loses its value and it is no longer the traditional "jinx."

Simultaneous speaking that is planned or expected, such as during the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance or during the singing of a song, is ineligible for a jinx to occur. A jinx may only follow a spontaneous and unexpected overlapping of conversation by both parties.

Penalties

Traditionally, the penalty for speaking while in the state of being "jinxed" (ie, breaking a jinx) is a firm punch in the arm. Perhaps a more common penalty is that the loser owes the winner (that is, the person who called jinx) "a Coke" (cola beverage). Victory is often announced when the jinxed person speaks out of turn and the winner yells enthusiastically, "You owe me a Coke!"

In some instances, the "jinxee" can only be freed from jinx upon purchasing the "jinxer" a coke (this rule is honored when the "jinxer" enforces this stipulation).

Variations

There are regional inconsistencies as to whether nicknames or shortened names are sufficient to remove a jinx. Similarly, rules vary as to whether a partial or full name (including a middle name) is required. There are variations of the game that require the name to be repeated three times to avoid any casual utterance of the name (and subsequent release of the jinx). Other versions are looser, where even an accidental utterance, such as when calling someone else with the same name, or in the case of a homonymic phrase ("Share on"/"Sharon"), is enough to release the jinxed person.

Typically, if two people say a word/phrase simultaneously and neither one calls "jinx!", a third party may not call a jinx in order to receive two Cokes or administer two punches. Only one of the two active parties may call jinx. However, in a variation, if two people state the exact same word at the exact same time and neither of them says, "jinx" immediately afterward, a third party may jinx both of the formers. This is known as a "third party jinx."

One common but not ubiquitous rule is that the jinxer must count to a predetermined number (such as ten) without being interrupted after saying "jinx". The jinx may be broken during this counting period by the potential jinxee or anyone else in the room.

Other variations on "jinx" involve who is sufficiently qualified to release the person who has been jinxed. In some versions, the jinx can only be released by the person who called jinx. In others, anyone in the room is equally qualified.

Sometimes the punch in the arm or "Coke" penalty for losing "jinx" can be replaced with Pepsi or another beverage. Unlike the punch in the arm variation, a common problem in the soft drink penalty lays in its collection.

There is also an "Internet jinx" variation played on IRC or other chat, Instant Messaging, or virtual/simulated environments where the winner is entitled to indicate punching the loser in the arm or being presented with a Coke, albeit in a virtual sense.

According to some rules, the person who first yelled "jinx" can subsequently yell "lock" to "lock in" the jinx. This way, only the jinxer can release the jinxee from the jinx. If no lock is placed on the jinx, "anyone" can say the jinxees name and release the jinxer.

In some varieties of jinx, an automatic expiration duration such as three hours, a day, or a week is imposed. If the jinxer does not release the jinxee from the jinx by this period, the jinxee may break their silence without penalty. At this point, the game has ended. In some versions, the jinxee is deemed to have "won" the game by having survived the jinx period without having broken the jinx.

As an alternative method of determining the winner, the Coke may be owed to the kid that first yells "Pinch-poke, You owe me a Coke!" or sometimes just "Jinx with a Coke!" as soon as possible after starting the jinx. This person then wins the game, and thus a Coke. One alternative to the Coke rule often played by college students is to play for Rum and Cokes. Another variation is "California jinx" in which one cannot go to the bathroom until someone has said his or her name.

There is no consensus as to what happens if three or more people speak a phrase simultaneously. As this is an extremely rare event, jinx rules regarding these circumstances are unclear at best.

A variation experienced in Southern Massachusetts in the 1960s may not be strictly considered a "jinx," but when two people say the same thing in unison (unplanned!), they must hook little fingers and say the following dialog: "What goes up the chimney?" "Smoke." "May your wish and my wish never be broke!"

The US military version of "jinx" may require that the "jinxee" pay a penalty of 5 "any-times" ("any-times" are push-ups that act as a payment for a penalty, usually done "any time" "jinxer" sees fit, such as at a large military roll call or anytime it would seem inappropriate for someone to get up in front of a crowd and do push-ups)

In New Zealand, the 2 Jinxers decide who is the jinxee by saying really fast: Jinx, Jinx, Jinx, Personal Jinx, Caps lock, Lock up, Smash Key, Throw away crumbs. The first person to say this is the Jinxer. However nothing happens to the Jinxee, they just lose to the fact that they can't speak fast.

The Jinx Sequence

Sometimes, two people will utter "jinx" at exactly the same time. In a "simultaneous jinx", neither person can say to have jinxed the other, therefore no one is jinxed. Instead, jinxes can be immediately called "up the line". To determine who is the jinxer and who is the jinxee, both people must rapidly speak the next word in a (predetermined) jinx sequence. This continues until either there is a clear jinxer (the first person who speaks the next phrase in the sequence uninterrupted) or until both parties have reached the final level in the sequence, at which point no winner can be determined.

The jinx sequence varies from one community to another, and both players must be in consensus about its components and order.

One example of a jinx sequence is as follows:

# Jinx
# Double Jinx
# Triple Jinx
# Personal Jinx

To call up the line one might say: "Jinx! Double jinx! Triple jinx! Personal jinx! Black magic Jinx! Your Mother Jinx! White Trash Jinx! Godzilla Jinx! Zhuzhu Jinx! Jnix!" as quickly as possible.

In popular culture

*In "The Simpsons" episode "Flaming Moe's," Lisa Simpson and her girlfriends are having a slumber party, and jinx Bart when he threatens to tell their parents. He is unable to speak until someone says his name, and when he speaks out of turn, Homer punches him in the arm, apparently familiar with the rules.

*"Drug Testing", a 2006 episode of "The Office", incorporates the game of jinx in a side plot. Pam jinxes Jim and demands a Coke ("Jim cannot speak until he buys me a Coke. These are the rules of jinx, and they are unflinchingly rigid"); the vending machine is sold out, and Jim remains silent for much of the day, even when asked to speak at a group meeting (in which he uses facial cues and hand gestures to fake crying. This circumvented his prohibition against using actual speech).

*In 1984, Saturday Night Live used the jinx game in a sketch. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Mary Gross played members of the Communist party who were being interviewed on a talk show hosted by castmate Billy Crystal. The women are very stern and hard-edged - until they say the same thing at the same time, at which point they both smile at each other, say "Jinx buy me a Coke!", and then do a silly childlike dance and rhyme. The routine is repeated several times in the sketch.

*In one episode of the second season of the TV Series "21 Jump Street" Doug Penhall called a jinx on Tom Hanson by declaring, "Pinch-Poke, you owe me a coke!" when they spoke at the same time.

*In an episode of "Recess", Gus is jinxed by the Ashleys. When they refuse to release Gus from his jinx-imposed silence, T.J. formulates a plan which tricks the Ashleys into breaking the jinx by saying Gus' name over the school's PA system.

*When Kim Possible says something at the same time as someone else, Kim shouts, "Jinx! You owe me a soda!" but does not appear to enforce the silence rule.

ee also

* Punch buggy

External links and references

* [http://www.playgroundlaw.com/perl/browse.pl?sid=2648 The Law of the Playground - Jinx]
* "Big Nate" comic strip of 12-17-2006 in which the characters play a game of Jinx to a tie (The "Buy me a Coke" version). [http://www.comics.com/comics/bignate/archive/bignate-20061217.html]