Word of the Day – Jingoism

Jingoism (noun)

jin-go-iz-m

Extreme aggressive patriotism, especially in the form of negative foreign policy.

This is one of those words that sounds lovely but has an awful meaning. The first instance of the word is from a song, popular in British pubs at the time of the Russo-Turkish war (1877-88)

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
We’ve fought the Bear before, and while we’re Britons true
The Russians shall not have Constantinople.

Example sentences

“The whole EU vote was fuelled by jingoism”

“That flag waving, support our troops jingoism is everything that is wrong with our country.”