by jingo
by jingo interjection: used to express determination or surprise.
Interjection
- Used to express determination or surprise.
- […] 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.1694, François Rabelais, chapter XXVI, in Peter Anthony Motteux, transl., The fifth book of The works of Francis Rabelais, M.D. […] , page 145
- “Yes, I'll make Simpledoria get out of the way. Come here, Simpledoria. Now, Bill, put your heels together on the edge of the walk. That's right. All ready? Now then! One for the money—two for the show—three to make ready—and four for to GO!” Another silence. “By jingo, Bill Hammersley, you've beat...1909, Booth Tarkington, Beasley's Christmas Party, New York: Harper & Brothers, pages 22–23
- Synonyms:
- adzooks, ay, caramba, mirabile dictu, chihuahua, begorra, bleeding heck, bleeding Nora, bless my heart, bless my soul
Synonyms of by jingo
- ay
- caramba
- mirabile dictu
- chihuahua
- bleeding heck
- bleeding Nora
- bless my heart
- bless my soul
- bless us
- blige
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- blimey
- bloody hell
- bloody Nora
- blow me down
- butter my butt and call me a biscuit
- by all that is holy
- by Allah
- by cracky
- by George
- by God
- by golly
- by gosh
- by gum
- by gummy
- by Jove
- by juckies
- by Jupiter
- by thunder
- by the living jingo
- Christ
- Christ alive
- Christ almighty
- Christ on a bike
- Christ on a cracker
- Christ on a raft
- Christ on a stick
- Christ on a crutch
- coo
- cor
- cor blimey
Origin of by jingo
Uncertain for a long time. Main theories include: * a minced oath of "by Jesus"; compare crikey, zounds, egads, etc. * a corruption ultimately of "by St. Gingoulph", in reference to Saint Gangulphus of Burgundy. * a borrowing from Basque Jainkoa (“god”); compare by Jove. 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.
Questions about by jingo
- What does by jingo mean?
- By jingo means used to express determination or surprise.
- What part of speech is by jingo?
- By jingo is an interjection.
Words near by jingo in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: by jingo (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “by jingo.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/by_jingo. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.