21 July 2013

jingo

[jing-goh]

noun, plural jin·goes, adjective

noun

1. a person who professes his or her patriotism loudly and excessively, favoring vigilant preparedness for war and an aggressive foreign policy; bellicose chauvinist.
2. English History . a Conservative supporter of Disraeli’s policy in the Near East during the period 1877–78.
adjective
3. of jingoes.
4. characterized by jingoism.
Idioms
5. by jingo!, Informal. (an exclamation used to emphasize the truth or importance of a foregoing statement, or to express astonishment, approval, etc.): I know you can do it, by jingo!

Example sentence:

Jingoism dominated the debate in the UN General Assembly.

Origin:

1660–70; orig. conjurer’s call hey jingo appear! come forth! (opposed to hey presto hasten away!), taken into general use in the phrase by Jingo, euphemism for by God; chauvinistic sense from by Jingo in political song supporting use of British forces against Russia in 1878

jingo
“mindless, gung-ho patriot,” 1878, picked up from the refrain of a music hall song written by G.W. Hunt supporting aggressive British policy toward Russia at a time of international tension. (“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.”) As an asseveration, it was in colloquial use since 1694, and is apparently yet another euphemism for Jesus, influenced by conjurer’s gibberish presto-jingo (1670). The suggestion that it somehow derives from Basque Jinko “god” is “not impossible,” but “as yet unsupported by evidence” [OED].

Today’s quote

We don’t need no education
We dont need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it’s just another brick in the wall.
All in all you’re just another brick in the wall.

– ‘Another Brick in the Wall Part 2’, The Wall, Roger Waters.

On this day

21 July 1542 – Pope Paul III establishes the Inquisition (the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition) to ‘defend the faith’ against reformists, protestants and heretics.

21 July 1899 – birthday of Ernest Hemingway, American author. He wrote books including ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls‘ and ‘Old Man and the Sea‘.

21 July 1970 – Aswan Dam opens in Egypt.

21 July 1973 – USSR launches Mars-4 space probe to photograph Mars.

21 July 1990 – Roger Waters performs a charity concert of the Pink Floyd concept album, ‘The Wall’, on the site where part of the Berlin Wall had stood. Approximately, 450,000 people attended. The stage was 170m long and 25m high. The concert included special guest performances by a large number of high profile artists, including Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison, Sinead O’Connor, Cyndi Lauper, Joni Mitchell, Bryan Adams and a number of others.