They say he’s lost some of his mojo,” Wolf Blitzer, CNN, June 3, 2008) or is squandered (“Hillary peaked too soon and then didn’t get her mojo back until it was too late,” Human Events, June 10, 2008). “Mojo” today is a favorite of sportswriters and purveyors of political analysis (a subset of sportswriting, after all), and in an election year in the US, there’s a bumper crop of “mojo” up for discussion, especially when it evaporates (“But others insist actually is weaker…. “Mojo” had gone mainstream, and the least likely people in the known universe to actually possess “mojo” began to bemoan their lack of it (“All the televised football in the world can’t compensate suburban men for their lost warrior mojo,” NY Times Magazine, 1999). To “have your mojo working” or “get your mojo on” meant to work your personal magic, whether that consisted of attracting the opposite sex, compelling the admiration of peers, or simply selling lots of used Plymouths.
Soon the meaning of “mojo” had broadened from literal “magic” to “personal magnetism or charisma,” “mastery of the game,” or even simply “good luck” (“With his weather mojo working overtime he got four hot sunny days,” 1966). “Mojo” entered the broader slang vocabulary in the US primarily through blues and jazz music, and by the 1960s was beginning to appear in the mass media (“Muddy Waters sang about troubled love and about his ‘mojo,’ a voodoo conjuration which would work on anyone but the one he wanted,” Sunday Times (London), 1960). In fact, “mojo” probably arrived with the slaves brought to the US from West Africa, and is almost certainly rooted in African languages, possibly the Fula word “moco’o,” which means “medicine man.” It is also thought to be related to the Gullah word “moco” meaning “witchcraft.” (Gullah is a very old creole language, employing both standard English and bits of African vocabulary, still spoken by some African-Americans along the Georgia and South Carolina coasts).
Since the tales collected were often hundreds of years old, we can assume that “mojo” is just as old. “Mojo” is, at its most basic level, simply “magic.” The word first gained notice in the 1920s, originally in scholarly collections of African-American folklore. (The company still operates motor lodges.) I was quite fond of HoJo during its heyday, especially on Unlimited Fried Clams Night, but that orange roof was about as close to anti-mojo as architecture could ever be. I suspect that they’re either confusing “mojo” with “MoDo,” snarky blog parlance for Maureen Dowd, the New York Times columnist, or conflating “mojo” with “HoJo,” which used to be popular shorthand for the now largely defunct Howard Johnson’s restaurant chain. The first was from something called The Benton Evening News, from Illinois, where they seem to be convinced that the word is properly capitalized as “MoJo,” which it isn’t. Interestingly, I just plugged “mojo” into Google News and found about 1700 hits for the word at the moment. "Two of my younger children have been playing Word Mojo (we actually set up our own tournament) and I've noticed a tremendous improvement in my sons' spelling skills.Dear Word Detective: “Get your mojo on!” Where and when did this phrase come into popularity? - Catherine Clark.
Love them all, but Word Mojo is the best!" "I played probably every word game out there - Word Weaver, Spelvin and dozens of others. * 6 game play variations - maximum 6, 7, and 8 letter words with timed and un-timed games Exceed your target score each round and you've got major Mojo! Loaded with exciting new futures Word Mojo Gold guarantees a new challenge every time you play. Simply create intersecting words over the random colored tiles to acquire 3 or more Mega Mojo Letters and you'll advance to the Mega Mojo round. Prepare yourself for an exciting new word game that takes spelling and creating chains of words to new levels of fun.
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