DEFINITION: v. To see joy and beauty where others only see complications, trouble and weeds. n. A moment of delight which dissipates as soon as it is shared.

Pollyanntidote

Created by: Tigger

Pronunciation: /pol-ee-ANN-ti-doht/

Sentence: Although little Valerie exhibited a constant love of life, and an exuberance for discovering beauty in even the most mundane things which was almost infectious, her older sister, Sharon, was immune to such charming behavior, and she would almost always attempt to deter Valerie's optimism with her version of a Pollyanntidote. So when Valerie tried to show Sharon how the broken bottle she'd found made the prettiest little rainbows on the sidewalk, Sharon said, "Does it still do that when it's all covered with blood?" Valerie put the bottle down but, undeterred, she looked around, spotted a butterfly, and promptly went running off after it. Sharon thought she spotted a patch of poison ivy in the direction that Valerie was heading, and she idly wondered if a big, itchy rash might curb some of her sister's enthusiasm.

Etymology: Pollyanna - an excessively or blindly optimistic person (in allusion to the influential novel "Pollyanna" about an inspiringly cheerful little girl) + Antidote - a remedy or counteragent (from Greek, antidoton "given as a remedy")

Points: 968

Email this page to a friend