jingo

English

Etymology

From the minced oath by jingo, which was used in a music hall song, written ca. 1878 by G. W. Hunt, that supported Britain's then belligerent attitude towards Russia. In this context, a euphemism for Jesus, influenced by the meaningless presto-jingo used by conjurors. A connection with the Basque jainko (“god”) has been suggested, but evidence is lacking.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɪŋ.ɡəʊ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɪŋ.ɡoʊ/
• Rhymes: -ɪŋɡəʊ

Noun

jingo (plural jingos or jingoes)

1. One who supports policy favouring war.
   • 1897 June 19, Carl Schurz, editorial: Armed or Unarmed Peace in Harper's Weekly, reprinted in 1913, Frederic Bancroft (editor), Speeches, Correspondence and Political Papers of Carl Schurz,

     The fact is that Mr. Roosevelt has always with perfect frankness confessed himself to be what is currently called a Jingo.

   • 1908, Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Orthodoxy:

     He is the jingo of the universe; he will say, "My cosmos, right or wrong."

   • 1995, Bradford Perkins, The Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations: The American Search for Opportunity, 1865–1913:

     "We are all jingoes now," the New York Sun wrote immediately after the 1898 war, "and the head jingo is the Hon. William McKinley."

   • 2007, The Week, April 7, 2007, no. 608, p. 5:

     Spare me all the outrage and "pseudo jingo stuff" about Iran's imprisonment of our troops, said Peter Hitchens in The Mail on Sunday.

Derived terms

• jingoism
• jingoist
• jingoistic
• jingoish
• jingoize

See also

• by jingo, by the living jingo

Anagrams

• Gijón

Japanese

Romanization

jingo

1. Rōmaji transcription of じんご