Search: chauvinist etymology
Why: I can't remember exactly, but Jessica Fletcher used that word last night, but not in a mean way. That makes me think it has a more complicated definition than the way Jessie Spano always spat it out.
Answer: It comes from a guy named Nicolas Chauvin! He was a soldier in Napoleon's Grande Armée, legendary for his loyalty even after being wounded 17 times, maimed and disfigured. He was eventually ridiculed during the Restoration because people hated Napoleon. He also might not have really even existed.
Anyway, in the 1840s, the word "chauvinism" came to mean "a exaggerated, bellicose patriotism" or "a belief in national superiority and glory" - kind of like jingoism. It wasn't used in conjunction with "male" to mean "thinks boys are better than girls" until the 1960s, when wimmens were all in an uproar about how they were being treated.
Source: EtymOnline, Wikipedia
The More You Know: There are female chauvinist pigs, too, though. They are probably at cardio pole dancing class right now.
