[字彙] Panglossian (a) 過度樂觀的

看板GRE (GRE入學考試)作者sovereignty ( )時間16年前 (2010/02/11 20:40)推噓7(7推 0噓 9→)

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今天的 M-W 字很有趣 (一個典故字)，來介紹一下 Podcast: http://condor.eb.com/word/podcast/wd20100211.mp3 Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 11, 2010 is: Panglossian ‧ \pan-GLAH-see-un\ ‧ adjective 發音: http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?panglo01=Panglossian : marked by the view that all is for the best in this best of possible worlds : excessively optimistic Example sentence: Even the most Panglossian temperament would have had trouble finding the good in this situation. Did you know? Dr. Pangloss was the pedantic old tutor in Voltaire's satirical novel Candide. Pangloss was an incurable, albeit misguided, optimist who claimed that "all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds." So persistent was he in his optimism that he kept it even after witnessing and experiencing great cruelty and suffering. The name "Pangloss" comes from Greek "pan," meaning "all," and "glossa," meaning "tongue," suggesting glibness and talkativeness. =========================================================================== 此字來自伏爾泰的諷刺著作 Candide 中的一位人物 Dr. Pangloss，他是一位老學究他無可救藥地樂觀，相信 "all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds"，其實這是萊布尼茲 (他除了是數學家還是哲學家) 的一個理論，要處理 "惡的問題" (這個問題很有趣，不曉得各位有沒有想過?) 如果上帝存在，且祂是全知、全善、全能的，這世上為什麼還有惡的存在呢? * 每當有災難、意外或殘忍的事發生時，我會想起這個問題。萊布尼茲的解釋是，這個世界是上帝在所有可能的世界中創造的那一種，所以是最好的 (the best of all possible worlds)，惡的存在不是善的，但是必要的，因為有惡，所以善才能彰顯 (如沒有惡，就沒有勇氣)，因為是最好的，多一點善少一點惡都不會是最好。簡單地說，這個世界是上帝的最佳解。 * 不過人生不是數學啊，有太多無法掌握的東西。 Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_of_all_possible_worlds =========================================================================== 今天的字讓我學到很多，背單字好有趣呀。 ps. 1) 注意 temperament 的發音 http://ppt.cc/yMuI 那個 ra 不發音的，儘管音標上有! 上次從賴世雄老師的演講中學到 metal 的發音跟 medal 其實一模一樣，你有發現嗎? 長期以來我 metal 的讀音都沒念標準 metal http://ppt.cc/D7a1 medal http://ppt.cc/,m9H 2) So persistent was he in his optimism that he kept it even after witnessing and experiencing great cruelty and suffering. 這個句型很棒，在紙上多寫幾次吧，下次作文可以用。想想下次自己能不能寫出這種句子呢? -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 140.112.175.59 ※ 編輯: sovereignty 來自: 140.112.175.59 (02/11 20:40)

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