Jingoism is a word that may be traced to a song that was popular during the 1800s. We will examine the meaning of the term jingoism, where it came from and some examples of its use in sentences.
Jingoism refers to a type of extreme nationalism, to the point of aggression against others and other nations. Jingoism is a type of nationalism that has gone beyond patriotism and is considered toxic and perhaps even dangerous. The term jingoism comes from a pub song that was popular in Britain in the 1870s written by MacDermott and Hunt, regarding relations between Britain and Russia: “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…” By jingo is a term that has been in use since the late 1600s as a euphemism for the name Jesus. With the advent of the song written by MacDermott and Hunt, the word jingo took on the meaning of someone who is virulently patriotic. The word jingo to describe a person is rarely seen, but the word jingoism to describe extreme nationalism is still popular.
Examples
But just a day after gruesome footage of the murder was posted online, the Labour leader said the killing is the ‘price we pay for war and jingoism’. (The
Daily Mail)Jingoism just got an official stamp: The Ministry of external affairs threatened to cancel the visas issued to employees of online retailer Amazon, and bullied the e-commerce giant into withdrawing Indian flag styled doormats from its Canadian portal. (The Huffington Post)
Equating the boycott call to “jingoism”, Yang Yucheng from the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) said it is different from trade protectionism which is natural and acceptable. (The Hindustan Times)