As we see our freedom of speech and First Amendment trampled upon, we also hear the word “bigot” with greater frequency. The word has become a favored pejorative of ideologically radical collectivists and leftists. They use it mainly to bash conservatives or anybody whose views they do not condone.
The term is derived from the German or Nordic ‘Bei Gott’ meaning ‘by god’. French Normans pronounced it ‘bee got’. The French wrote it ‘bigot’, pronounced it (‘bee go’) and made it into a negative term to refer to self-righteous Christian Normans or Germans, who would start every sentence with “Bei Gott, ….” calling on God as the witness to their self-righteousness and virtue. Bigotry then is a form of sanctimony, which is defined in the American Heritage Dictionary as “Righteousness accompanied by an unwarranted attitude of moral or social superiority; smug or hypocritical righteousness.”
