Particularly in recent times, Origuchi explained that makurakotoba had derived from the proverb, had common characteristics with the words of norito (Shinto prayer), were special words which had magically signified power, had become a mere shell or dead letter in the later generations, and had changed into something like rhetorical games, and this explanation has been widely supported by the learned society.
とくに近代になって、折口が諺を由来に持ち、祝詞の言葉などと共通性を持つ、呪力を持った特別な言葉(らいふ・いんできす)であり、それが後世になって形骸化していき、だんだんと言語遊戯的なものとなっていったと説明しており、学会では広く支持されている（）。