Er, yeah, a more legible description is "virtue cheap talking" and not "virtue signalling". But it's quite likely that usage of the latter term has always been

Er, yeah, a more legible description is "virtue cheap talking" and not "virtue signalling". But it's quite likely that usage of the latter term has always been a sarcastic jibe about the fraudulent/low-investment quality of the 'virtuous' acts that are being performed.