This week’s theme
Pessimists and optimists from fiction who became words

This week’s words
Gummidge
Tigger
Debbie Downer
Tapleyism
Eeyore

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(TAP-lee-i-zuhm)

MEANING:

noun: Extreme optimism, even under most hopeless circumstances.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Mark Tapley, a character in Charles Dickens’s Martin Chuzzlewit (1843-44). Earliest documented use: 1857.

NOTES:

The mission of Mark Tapley is to remain “jolly” under all circumstances. It is tested when he accompanies his boss Martin Chuzzlewit on a trip to America and comes down with malaria while living in a swamp. When asked how he’s doing, he responds: “Floored for the present, sir, but jolly!” Other examples of words coined after characters from the same book are pecksniffian and gamp.

USAGE:

“I have a good share of Tapleyism in me and come out strong under difficulties.”
William James; Memories and Studies; Longmans, Green, and Co.; 1911.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: