# Is There a Name for This Kind of "Cursed" Object? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 5, 2009, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-cursed-object/479916 "2009-01-05T05:17:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-cursed-object/479916/1 "2009-01-05T05:17:54Z")
I’m guessing there is, but I don’t know what it might be. I’m talking about items which have a reputation of death and/or ruin around them. Like the Hope diamond, where every owner (or even people who’ve handled it) have all met untimely ends under mysterious circumstances (at least according to legend). Or Oak Island, which is said to have had a vast pirate treasure buried on it, and people have lost their lives/fortunes vainly trying to find it. Is there a term for those kinds of things besides simply “cursed”? ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-cursed-object/479916/2 "2009-01-05T05:27:42Z")
Damned, although that typically refers to a person… ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-cursed-object/479916/3 "2009-01-05T05:49:36Z")
A jinx? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-cursed-object/479916/4 "2009-01-05T05:56:41Z")
Hoodoo. From Merriam-Webster: > [@](#): > > Main Entry: hoo·doo > Etymology: perhaps alteration of voodoo > 1 : a body of practices of sympathetic magic traditional especially among blacks in the southern United States > 2 : a natural column of rock in western North America often in fantastic form > \*\*3 : something that brings bad luck \*\* > 4 : nonsense , hokum ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-cursed-object/479916/5 "2009-01-05T18:31:19Z")
I’m not sure what’s wrong with ‘cursed’. If there’s a reputation, but you don’t think there actually is a magic spell on the object, you could go with ‘reputedly cursed’ or ‘legendarily cursed’ or something like that. If there’s no real widespread belief that the object has magical powers, but the owners do appear to have had more than their share of bad luck (e.g. position of drummer for Spinal Tap), you could say ‘seemingly cursed’ or something. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-cursed-object/479916/6 "2009-01-05T18:39:16Z")
Fro-gurt. ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-cursed-object/479916/7 "2009-01-05T19:10:24Z")
No, no. The Fro-gurt is _also_ cursed. The _doll_ is cursed. ---
**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 5, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-cursed-object/479916/8 "2009-01-05T19:14:54Z")
Uh huh. Can I go now? ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-cursed-object/479916/9 "2009-01-05T19:54:34Z")
Here’s your problem right here…somebody set this thing to “Evil” ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-cursed-object/479916/10 "2009-01-05T20:08:41Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > I’m not sure what’s wrong with ‘cursed’. > > If there’s a reputation, but you don’t think there actually is a magic spell on the object, you could go with ‘reputedly cursed’ or ‘legendarily cursed’ or something like that. > > If there’s no real widespread belief that the object has magical powers, but the owners do appear to have had more than their share of bad luck (e.g. position of drummer for Spinal Tap), you could say ‘seemingly cursed’ or something. Well, I was hoping that there was a specific descriptor for this kind of “cursed” object, sort of like how houses and certain cars are referred to as a “money pit.” ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-cursed-object/479916/11 "2009-01-05T20:38:29Z")
> [@yanceylebeef](#): > > Here’s your problem right here…somebody set this thing to “Evil” :raises hand: That would be me. I wanted to see what happened. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-cursed-object/479916/12 "2009-01-05T20:40:10Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Well, I was hoping that there was a specific descriptor for this kind of “cursed” object, sort of like how houses and certain cars are referred to as a “money pit.” Bad hoodoo boondoggle pit. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-cursed-object/479916/13 "2009-01-05T23:03:21Z")
So basically, is what you need the antonym of talisman? If so, I had no luck finding anything that hasn’t pretty much already been mentioned, but thought I’d throw it out there for you to give it a shot if you wanted to. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-cursed-object/479916/14 "2009-01-06T01:29:47Z")
Another term for such an object would be “hexed.” ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-cursed-object/479916/15 "2009-01-06T02:08:03Z")
Bradyied? cue hawain music 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-cursed-object/479916/16 "2009-01-06T02:19:54Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > So basically, is what you need the antonym of talisman? If so, I had no luck finding anything that hasn’t pretty much already been mentioned, but thought I’d throw it out there for you to give it a shot if you wanted to. Yup. And I can’t find an antonym for it, either. Seems like there should be one. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-cursed-object/479916/17 "2009-01-06T04:36:50Z")
The word I’ve always heard used for this kind of thing is “Cursed” Other than that, all I’ve got to contribute is a neat example of this kinda object: The [Demon Core](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_Core) ---
**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 6, 2009, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-cursed-object/479916/18 "2009-01-06T05:36:18Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > The word I’ve always heard used for this kind of thing is “Cursed” > > Other than that, all I’ve got to contribute is a neat example of this kinda object: The [Demon Core](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_Core) Now I know what Dr. Oppenheimer was talking about, with all of his “I am become Death” shtick. ---
**Author:** ![MaceMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@MaceMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaceMan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-cursed-object/479916/19 "2009-01-06T07:34:31Z")
I’ve seen “anathema” used in this context. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-cursed-object/479916/20 "2009-01-06T09:24:52Z")
Oh! You mean a “luck sucker”! OK. I made that up… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-cursed-object/479916.md?page=2)