by jingo

English

Uncertain for a long time. Main theories include:

a minced oath of "by Jesus";[1] compare crikey, zounds, egads, etc.
a corruption ultimately of "by St. Gingoulph", in reference to Saint Gangulphus of Burgundy.[2]
a borrowing from Basque Jinkoa (“god”); compare by Jove.[1] Basque sailors ― a common famous occupation for their people, who often swore by their term for God ― travelled far through the seas for centuries, and often met Englishmen.

Used to express determination or surprise.
- 1694, François Rabelais, chapter XXVI, in Peter Anthony Motteux, transl., The fifth book of The works of Francis Rabelais, M.D. […] ‎, page 145:
  […] of all commend me to Ball, this is the Friar of the World, for my Money; you've heard how short, concise, and compendious he is in his Answers? Nothing is to be got out of him but Monosyllables; by Jingo, I believe he would make three bits of a Cherry.
- 1989, Moonlighting:
  You can't tell the difference between surface and substance. Between celebrity and real accomplishment. By jingo, you're right. The scales have fallen from my eyes and I owe it all to you.

Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “jingo”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
James Orchard Halliwell (1878) A Dictionary of Archaisms and Provincialisms […] ‎, volume II, ninth edition, London: John Russel Smith, page 485, column 1: “JINGO. By-jingo, a common oath, said to be a corruption of St. Gingoulph.”

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