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Did You Know?
In Voltaire’s 1759 satire “Candide, or Optimism,” the French Enlightenment writer and thinker introduced the character of Doctor Pangloss. Pangloss is the living embodiment of the optimistic theory that this is the best of all possible worlds. Voltaire created Pangloss to satirize the risks of excessive optimism. This made “Pangloss” a critical term for someone who maintains optimism regardless of how dire circumstances may become.
--courtesy WordGenius.com
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In Charles Dickens’ 1850 novel “David Copperfield,” Wilkins Micawber is a financially scattered character who maintains an unflappable optimism that something positive will soon happen, even as he faces mounting challenges and tragedies. The phrase closely associated with Wilkins Micawber is “Something will turn up,” making Micawber symbolic of excessive optimism coupled with disorganization and recklessness. --courtesy WordGenuis.com
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As a noun, “rataplan” is a convincing evocation of the sound of a drum —particularly a military drum. It's a French word adopted into English, but there is another word that dates back even earlier: “tattoo.” Since the 17th century, English speakers have used the word “tattoo” to describe military signals by drum, as well as other drum sounds. Like “rataplan,” the word “tattoo” even sounds like a drumbeat. Unlike “rataplan,” however, “tattoo” isn’t onomatopoeic: It’s actually taken from the Dutch “taptoe,” describing the shutting of the tap on a cask.
