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

Rules

If you break the Jinx, you are damned to hell for all eternity. 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 varies. 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.

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.

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. The Pledge of Allegiance is a promise or oath of allegiance to the United States and the its national flag. ...

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, "Buy me a Coke!" The wave shape (known as the dynamic ribbon device) present on all Coca-Cola cans throughout the world derives from the contour of the original Coca-Cola bottles. ...

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. For the specialised use of homonym in scientific nomenclature, see Homonym (botany) and Homonym (zoology). ...

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 afterwards, 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 sufficient 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. Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a form of instant communication over the Internet. ... This article is about the simulation technology. ...

According to some rules, the person who first yelled "jinx" can subsequently yell "lock" to "lock in" the jinx. This way, only the jinxer is 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.^{[citation needed]} In parts of eastern North Carolina the unofficial rule is that one who is jinxed but speaks before one's name is spoken not only loses the game but in doing so declares/renders oneself homosexual.^{[citation needed]} By contrast, in South Carolina, if the jinxed party does not reverse the jinx quickly enough, she or he is presumed to be "Chinese" for one week, starting on the Monday following the day of the jinxing.^{[citation needed]} In Western North Dakota, the jinx victim cannot move from their current position until the "jinxer" says the "jinxee's" name out loud. The wave shape (known as the dynamic ribbon device) present on all Coca-Cola cans throughout the world derives from the contour of the original Coca-Cola bottles. ... Rum and Coke is a cocktail consisting of rum and cola. ... Since its coinage, the word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ...

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 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:

1. Jinx
2. Double Jinx
3. Triple Jinx
4. Personal Jinx
5. Black Magic Jinx
6. Your Mother Jinx

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

In popular culture

• In The Simpsons episode "Flaming Moe's," Lisa Simpsons 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.

Simpsons redirects here. ... Flaming Moes is the 10th episode of the The Simpsons third season. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Office (US) Drug Testing is the 20th episode of the second season of The Office (U.S. version). ... This article is about the USA version of The Office. ... Pamela Beesly is a fictional character on the U.S. television sitcom The Office, played by Jenna Fischer. ... James Jim Halpert is a fictional character in the United States version of the television sitcom The Office, played by John Krasinski. ... This article is about the American television series. ... This article is about the American actress. ... Mary Gross (born March 25, 1953 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American comedian and actress best known for her four-year stint on Saturday Night Live from 1981 to 1985. ... For the American political commentator, see William Kristol. ...

See also

• Punch buggy

A 1967 Volkswagen Beetle Punch buggy (also called punch bug, slug bug,[1] or punch beetle[2]) is a car game generally played by young children in which participants hit each other upon sight of a Volkswagen Beetle. ...

External links and references

• 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).[1]