Word of the Day
Panglossian
adjective
characterized by or given to extreme optimism, especially in the face of unrelieved hardship or adversity.
More about Panglossian
Panglossian, “extremely optimistic, especially in the face of unrelieved hardship or adversity,” comes from Dr. Pangloss (Panglosse in French), an old, incurably optimistic tutor in Voltaire’s philosophical satire Candide. Pangloss comes from Greek panglossía “garrulousness, wordiness,” which also may suggest a certain amount of glibness. Candide, the name of the eponymous hero, comes from Latin candidus “bright, shining, pure, clean, good-natured, innocent,” perhaps also a comment on the hero’s naiveté. Panglossian entered English in the first half of the 19th century.
how is Panglossian used?
Kraft sets to work making a case for Panglossian optimism while his marriage crumbles and his money problems worsen.
Burnett had developed a Panglossian confidence in the power of branding. “I believe we’re going to see something like the Microsoft Grand Canyon National Park,” he told the New York Times in 2001.
honcho
noun
a leader, especially an assertive leader.
More about honcho
Honcho is mostly an American term, entering the language in 1945, toward the end of World War II. It comes from Japanese hanchō “squad leader, group leader” and was picked up by American prisoners of war in the POW camps.
how is honcho used?
As head honcho of the nation’s most prestigious newspaper, all eyes will be on her, especially considering her status as the paper’s first female executive editor in its 160-year history.
You know, I know she’s the head honcho, and no one is calling her that. She deserves to be called that, doesn’t she?
More about sweven
Sweven means “a vision; a dream.” It comes from Middle English sweven (with nearly 20 variant spellings) “a dream in sleep, a dream-vision or supernatural vision appearing while one is awake,” all of which occurred in Old English swefen, swefn (in Old English especially as regards revelatory or premonitory dreams in the Bible). Sweven is related to Old Norse svefn, Sanskrit svápna-, Old Church Slavonic sŭnŭ, Greek hýpnos, Latin somnus, Old Irish suan, Welsh hun, all meaning “sleep and/or dream.” All of the “daughter” forms derive from the Proto-Indo-European root swep-, swop-, sup– “to sleep.”
how is sweven used?
She wakened Earl Harold out of his sweven, to don his harness on …
The King with the Hundred Knights mette a wonder dream two nights afore the battle …. All that heard of the sweven said it was a token of great battle.