You are my Mojo - did I make an embarrassing mistake?

[GuddInglish]

Hi English natives,

I have a question about a song I wrote for my one year old daughter and I'm afraid I made an embarrassing mistake. The song is finished now and sounds great and I wanted to call the sond "you are my mojo", because when I translate "Glücksbringer" (German) into English I get the word mojo. Glücksbringer in German makes total sense, yet mojo also means sex appeal, which isn't very fitting in this context. Below is an abstract from the song lyrics.

Is what I did a big nono, or is it actually ok?


song:

You are my mojo

I let you do,
what you do do.
I let you play,
in your own way.
Though I make sure that you stay unharmed,
I’ll make sure, and if necessary take up arms.

Cause your my mojo,
you’re my baby,
will I ever let you go?
I say maybe
I say maybe when your eighteen, but I don’t know.


I really appreciate your help.

 

[Tdol]

Though doesn't really work- it doesn't contrast with the rest of the sentence. Do do may be illogical, but it's fine to me.

 

[jutfrank]

I think mojo is an awful translation of Glücksbringer. Who on earth translated it that way?!

Don't you have any other translations? How about charm?

 

[Tdol]

Cause your

'Cause you're

 

[Tdol]

How about charm?

How about sunshine in this context?

 

[Tarheel]

Perhaps:

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.
When I see you smile it chases the clouds away.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,
And I know that you are here to stay.

 

[Skrej]

Although 'mojo' isn't really a good translation for Glücksbringer, it still works in your song. 'Mojo' just refers to magic, a magical charm, spell, etc. So it makes a certain logical sense to state that someone is the source of your 'mojo'. It doesn't necessarily have to refer to sex or sex appeal, although it could with the right context. Your song is not that context.

I think a better translation of Glücksbringer would be something like 'lucky charm' or 'good luck charm'.

I think referring to someone as either your lucky charm or a source of your mojo works, just with slightly different meaning.

 

[Tarheel]

The song is finished ....

Start over.

 

[probus]

To me, mojo is not a mainstream English word. It belongs to archaic (if not obsolete) black American dialect. I've known the word for more than fifty years but have never used it and never will. Learners should avoid obscure dialect terms like mojo.

I know very little German, but perhaps "lucky charm" would work for Glucksbringer.

 

[emsr2d2]

I hear people saying things like "I've lost my mojo" in BrE fairly frequently. It generally means they're just feeling a bit out of sorts, maybe a bit down.

 

[Skrej]

It's not common, but I wouldn't consider it archaic or obsolete, either. It's just not a term one has occasion to use much, but I do hear it from time to time. Most often in song, but occasionally in conversations.

While it did originate as black American slang, I think it has jumped over into mainstream usage as it picked up additional meanings to the magical power/charm idea. At some point, it also picked up the idea of sexual appeal or sexual prowess.

Possibly that ability to adapt new meanings and variations in usage is what keeps its, *ahem*, mojo going. :-D

 

[GoesStation]

Possibly that ability to adapt new meanings and variations in usage is what keeps its, *ahem*, mojo going. :-D

Mojo featured prominently in the second Austin Powers film. The lead character had lost his mojo and spent most of the film trying to get it back.

I suspect the word became a lot more common soon after the release of that film.

 

[jutfrank]

While it did originate as black American slang, I think it has jumped over into mainstream usage as it picked up additional meanings to the magical power/charm idea. At some point, it also picked up the idea of sexual appeal or sexual prowess.

I thought it was an African word of some origin, brought to America with the African slaves, who used it to mean something like libido, sexual potency.

Mojo featured prominently in the second Austin Powers film. The lead character had lost his mojo and spent most of the film trying to get it back.

I suspect the word became a lot more common soon after the release of that film.

Yes, that's the first thing I think of now when I hear the word. Austin Powers was using the word in its sex-related sense.

I've never noticed it used in the 'lucky charm' sense.