General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The knee-jerk dismissal (by some) of Putin's remarks is so drearily typical of the 'Ugly American' [View all]Raksha
(7,167 posts)I'm somewhat older than you (born in 1946). Here's the Wikipedia definition:
Jingoism is patriotism in the form of aggressive foreign policy.[1] In practice, it is a country's advocation of the use of threats or actual force against other countries in order to safeguard what it perceives as its national interests. Colloquially, it refers to excessive bias in judging one's own country as superior to othersan extreme type of nationalism.
The term originated in Britain, expressing a pugnacious attitude toward Russia in the 1870s, and appeared in the American press by 1893.
Etymology
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 (18771878) gave birth to the term.[2][3] 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.[4]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingoism