A jinx is a curse or the quality of attracting bad or
negative luck. The term "jinx" refers to the fear of saying
something positive about an incomplete or ambiguous
situation for fear of "jinxing" it. According to folklore,
speaking positively about your current situation will cause
it to be "jinxed," and things will begin to go wrong. "Jinx"
is a name given to a game played between friends
(particularly children) in which when two people say the
same word or phrase at the same time, the first person to
say "jinx" activates the jinx and the other person has to stay
silent until the one who activated the jinx says their name.
Candace's family always had a special place for the
game Jinx. It was never taken just as a game but always
something more. It was something special for her parents,
especially her father.