Jingo - Dictionary Definition and Overview

Jingo :  (noun)

1: an extreme bellicose nationalist [syn: chauvinist, jingoist, flag-waver, hundred-percenter, patrioteer]

Based on WordNet 2.0

Jingo : \Jin"go\, n.; pl. Jingoes. [Said to be a corruption of St. Gingoulph.] 1. A word used as a jocular oath. ``By the living jingo.'' --Goldsmith.

2. A statesman who pursues, or who favors, aggressive, domineering policy in foreign affairs. [Cant, Eng.]

Note: This sense arose from a doggerel song which was popular during the Turco-Russian war of 1877 and 1878. The first two lines were as follows:

We don't want to fight, but by Jingo if we do, We 've got the ships, we 've got the men, we 've got the money too.

Based on WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003)
Copyright 2009 wordIQ.com - Privacy Policy  :: Terms of Use  :: Contact Us  :: About Us