A.Word.A.Day --mojo

A.Word.A.Day

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Apr 29, 2013

This week's theme
Words borrowed from other languages

This week's words
mojo
boondocks
gam
mammonism
leviathan

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

The world has many voices. Each has its unique way to describe the world. Each of these voices adds to the beauty of the human race.

While words originating in Latin, Greek, French, etc. appear often in the English language, this week we've picked words borrowed from languages we don't see here as much.

mojo

PRONUNCIATION:

(MO-jo)

MEANING:

noun: Magical power; charm.

ETYMOLOGY:

Apparently of W. African origin, akin to Gullah moco (witchcraft), Fula moco'o (medicine man). Fula is a language of West Africa. Earliest documented use: 1926.

USAGE:

"After losing their mojo, formerly high-flying tech firms rarely recover it."
Googling A New Boss; The Economist (London, UK); Jul 21, 2012.

See more usage examples of mojo in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Useless laws weaken the necessary laws. -Charles de Montesquieu, philosopher and writer (1689-1755)

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