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Fox Covers the Olympics: Gabby Douglas Has 'Lost That Jingoistic Feeling'

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Shiplord Kirel: From behind wingnut lines8/06/2012 3:48:53 pm PDT

Etymology of “jingoism,” from wikipedia

The chorus of a song by G. H. MacDermott (singer) and G. W. Hunt (songwriter) commonly sung in British pubs and music halls around the time of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) gave birth to the term. The lyrics had the chorus:

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.

The phrase “by Jingo” was a long-established minced oath, used to avoid saying “by Jesus”. Referring to the song, the specific term “jingoism” was coined as a political label by the prominent British radical George Holyoake in a letter to the Daily News on 13 March 1878. The term eventually caught on in the United States.

Well, by jiminy, I can see why the song is not well remembered. What rhymes with “Constantinople” anyway?