# Shhhh...Don't jinx this **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 27, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shhhh-dont-jinx-this/600970 "2011-10-27T15:13:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![67java89](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/aeb1de/32.png) [@67java89](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/67java89)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shhhh-dont-jinx-this/600970/1 "2011-10-27T15:13:53Z")
Why do people think that saying something out loud jinxes it? ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shhhh-dont-jinx-this/600970/2 "2011-10-27T15:25:59Z")
Because the universe has a sense of irony. Duh. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shhhh-dont-jinx-this/600970/3 "2011-10-27T15:44:42Z")
It’s a superstition of course, but it can probably be explained by basic human pride. People usually say this about future events that they are trying to predict or hang their hopes on - events that are fundamentally uncertain. So if you say “My sports team is making it to the championships this year!” and then they don’t, you look foolish. To compensate, you say that when you said it out loud you “jinxed” it, i.e. claiming some control over an event which you obviously have no control over. As if they would have made it to the championships if you just hadn’t screwed up and made the fatal mistake of saying it out loud. Or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shhhh-dont-jinx-this/600970/4 "2011-10-27T16:22:56Z")
Comes down to confirmation bias, I guess. All the previous times when you said something and the opposite didn’t happen you probably didn’t notice, but the one time it does, it sticks in your mind. I don’t tend to worry about such things too much in everyday life, but when it comes to sports, I’m bizarrely superstitious. Even I won’t tempt fate with 2 minutes to go and my team up 2-0 by saying the s-word\* 🙂 _whisper_shutout\* ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shhhh-dont-jinx-this/600970/5 "2011-10-27T16:34:41Z")
> [@67java89](#): > > Why do people think that saying something out loud jinxes it? Because people are stupid. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shhhh-dont-jinx-this/600970/6 "2011-10-27T16:44:13Z")
Because people are deeply programmed to look for patterns and connections in the world, whether or not they exist. That one time you mentioned grandma dying, and then a week later she did, it _seemed_ like there had to be a connection, even if there wasn’t. It probably goes all the way back to some member of the tribe worrying that the hunt would be unsuccessful – and then it _was_ unsuccessful! ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shhhh-dont-jinx-this/600970/7 "2011-10-27T16:48:43Z")
It doesn’t jinx you as long as you remember to knock on wood, to drive out the evil spirits who are listening in, looking for ways to get you. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shhhh-dont-jinx-this/600970/8 "2011-10-27T17:02:54Z")
The Cowboys are going to win the Super Bowl this year. Hah! Take that, Dallas fans! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shhhh-dont-jinx-this/600970/9 "2011-10-27T17:46:41Z")
What, you \*want \*to give yourself a _kina hora_? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shhhh-dont-jinx-this/600970/10 "2011-10-27T18:20:47Z")
I read a book about Murphy’s Law which had this related rule: The Unmentionable Rule As soon as you mention something: If it’s bad, it happens. If it’s good, it goes away. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shhhh-dont-jinx-this/600970/11 "2011-10-27T23:10:13Z")
I don’t know the answer but at least it’s not raining! ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shhhh-dont-jinx-this/600970/12 "2011-10-28T03:59:35Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > Because people are stupid. Not a baseball fan, I take it? ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shhhh-dont-jinx-this/600970/13 "2011-10-28T04:03:18Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > Not a baseball fan, I take it? Is there a connection between baseball and the jinx thing? And yeah, I’m not, really. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shhhh-dont-jinx-this/600970/14 "2011-10-28T04:06:46Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I read a book about Murphy’s Law which had this related rule: > > The Unmentionable Rule > > As soon as you mention something: > > If it’s bad, it happens. > > If it’s good, it goes away. Yeah, my sweetie, who has not a drop of Irish blood in him, gets seriously upset if I mention how well \ is doing. He swears he’s not superstitious, but has no problem believing that _I_ will jinx something just by mentioning it. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shhhh-dont-jinx-this/600970/15 "2011-10-28T05:04:57Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > Is there a connection between baseball and the jinx thing? And yeah, I’m not, really. It is absolutely, positively, 100% forbidden to mention that a pitcher is headed towards a no-hitter, and a thousand times over that, a perfect game in baseball. Jinx of the highest order.