pollyanna [ˌpɒliˈænə] n.
1.) A person regarded as being foolishly or blindly optimistic (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language).
Etymology: After the heroine of the novel Pollyanna, by the American writer Eleanor Hodgman Porter (1868-1920).
"Job's crops are destroyed, his barns burned, his children taken sick, and he himself breaks out all over with boils. In this condition he is visited by a group of three friends—professional moralists and Pollyannas—and between them and him the dramatic debate ensues" (The Man and the Book Nobody Knows, Bruce Barton, 1959).
6 comments:
Job's life turned out all right though.
haha I'm pretty sure no one will ever call me this, but I don't think I'd want them to anyway.
I actually read "Pollyanna" when I was a kid. She WAS pretty sickly sweet.
I answered your question in my blog comments, a couple of comments later.
I had this once in a book I was translating and I had to seek advice from Wikipedia :) But I do remember the film about Pollyanna!
Well, sweet. Sounds like me.. sometimes.
Suddenly I have a new word to describe our next installment of Slim Dyson. Wonderful.
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