# Definition of "Mojo" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [December 30, 2007, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-mojo/431661 "2007-12-30T02:07:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lampshade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@lampshade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lampshade)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-mojo/431661/1 "2007-12-30T02:07:55Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_257.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_257.html) I looked up the word “mojo” in a blues slang dictionary in the library at the University of Vermont. It said that a “Mojo filter” is slang for a rubber. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-mojo/431661/2 "2007-12-30T15:30:14Z")
Furthermore, a perusal of the highly entertaining lyric to Steely Dan’s [_Haitian Divorce_](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/s/steely+dan/haitian+divorce_20130165.html) gives us: > [@](#): > > Tearful reunion in the usa > Day by day those memories fade away > Some babies grow in a peculiar way > It changed, it grew, and everybody knew > Semi-mojo > Whos this kinky so-and-so? The full lyric gives the context and leads me to assume that a semi-mojo is a child of mixed race. Confirmation or denial would be equally welcome. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-mojo/431661/3 "2007-12-30T15:32:29Z")
I always thought your mojo was your thang. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-mojo/431661/4 "2007-12-30T16:24:33Z")
**Chez Guevara** , wow, thanks. As many times as I’ve heard that song I never caught those last couple of lines. They really make the song. **lampshade** , the usage you supply is an example of the common English tendency to expand the usage of familiar slang in new combinations. [Urbandictionary.com](http://Urbandictionary.com) lists mojo bag, mojo beian, mojo crash, mojo girl, mojo hand, mojo man, and mojo wire. The first entry for mojo also properly expands on Cecil’s old school usage: > [@](#): > > The word originally means a charm or a spell. But now its more commonly said meaning sex appeal or talent. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2007, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-mojo/431661/5 "2007-12-31T06:06:28Z")
mojo is an old old blues term, which means it probably has it’s roots in black magic Africa. Mojo Hand, Got My Mojo Workin’, Mannish Boy all are songs about Mojo’s. Most but not all are sexually related. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2007, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-mojo/431661/6 "2007-12-31T09:04:14Z")
In the Canary Islands dialect of Spanish (and in dialects derived from that one), mojo means sauce (to the verb “mojar” is to soak, which is what you do with bread and your sauce - it also means to have sex); _mojo picón_, hot sauce. I’ve heard canaries say someone has mojo in the same way that someone from mainland Spain would say they have “chispa” (lit spark and it seems to be related in both meaning and etimology to chutzpa, it’s pronounced the same) or “duende” (lit goblin but it actually means something like charm or, in music, the ability to suck in the audience’s attention). It sounds like a totally far-fetched connection, but “weirder things thou’ll see…” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2008, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-mojo/431661/7 "2008-01-01T04:48:16Z")
According to Austin Powers, who lost his once but got it back, your mojo is your essence, the magical, mystical, unquantifiable stuff that makes you who you are, that ineffable but irreplaceable quality that sets you apart from everyone else and makes things happen for you, yeah, baby! ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2008, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-mojo/431661/8 "2008-01-01T10:38:21Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] According to Austin Powers, who lost his once but got it back, your mojo is your essence, the magical, mystical, unquantifiable stuff that makes you who you are, that ineffable but irreplaceable quality that sets you apart from everyone else and makes things happen for you, yeah, baby! [/QUOTE] Best. Answer. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2008, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-mojo/431661/9 "2008-01-01T18:42:33Z")
I was gonna say, in every Spanish context I’ve seen it referenced, it refers to some sort of sauce. _Mojo criollo, mojo rojo, mojo isleño, mojo tomate_, etc. Babelfish translates it as “gravy”. So I’m gonna go ahead and say that a good definition of mojo is “special sauce”, since it covers both the explicit culinary and implicit abstract slang dimensions that have already been mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-mojo/431661/10 "2008-01-01T19:38:20Z")
I think the two meanings (culinary vs. magical/sexual) are not etymologically related; even if this is not true, I prefer to believe that it is. I really do not want the two versions of “special sauce” united in my mind OR my cuisine! ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2008, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-mojo/431661/11 "2008-01-01T23:46:29Z")
Shakey’s serves “mojo potatoes”–sliced fried potatoes which must have some kind of batter on them. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-mojo/431661/12 "2008-01-02T04:20:21Z")
[QUOTE=Red Barchetta] Best. Answer. Ever. [/QUOTE] Aw… ::blushes:: ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-mojo/431661/13 "2008-01-02T06:15:09Z")
Common usage: a spell or charm. Most people heard it first in the Doors song, where “Mr. Mojo Risin’” is an acronym for “Jim Morrison.” ETA: And, according to the Google Ad, Mojo Bars are $12.65 for a box of 12. I guess you use the bar to add a little rigidity when your mojo ain’t risin’ all by itself.