Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—J

Jingoism

The British war braggadocio; called Chauvinism in French; Spread-eagleism in the United States of North America. During the Russo Turkish War in 1877-1878 England was on the point of interfering, and at the music-halls a song became popular containing the following refrain:

We don't want to fight; but, by Jingo, if we do.
We've got the ships, we've got the men, and got the money too.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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