Pollyanna

On Sunday, August 2, 2020, searches for Pollyannaish increased 3263% compared to the previous week after Dr. Deborah Birx, a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force member, used the word while defending herself from criticism by the U.S. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

Pollyannaish, often written in lowercase as pollyannaish, means “unrealistically optimistic.” If someone is acting Pollyannaish, then they are judged as showing an optimism that is extremely naive and unthinking.

Pollyannaish is based on Pollyanna, a term for an excessively optimistic person. How did the female given name Pollyanna become used in this way? Pollyanna comes from the titular character of the 1913 children’s book Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter. In the book, Pollyanna is extraordinarily optimistic and positive about life, regardless of what befalls her.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been a staunch critic of the Trump administration’s approach to the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. In an August 2 interview with ABC, Pelosi stated she lacked confidence in Dr. Deborah Birx, accusing her of spreading disinformation about the coronavirus and taking unduly confident positions about the pandemic; Pelosi had issued even harsher criticism of Birx the previous week. In response, Birx said she always relies on scientific data, and that she had never taken a Pollyannaish view or been called Pollyannaish. Pelosi herself did not use the term Pollyannaish in her criticism.

Dr. Birx responds to Pelosi: "I have tremendous respect for the speaker … it was unfortunate that New York Times wrote this article without speaking to me … I have never been called Pollyannaish, or non-scientific, nor non-data-driven." pic.twitter.com/nBoOi0V65i

— The Recount (@therecount) August 2, 2020

Are you confused about the difference disinformation and misinformation? We’ve got you covered in our article, “’Misinformation’ vs. ‘Disinformation’: Get Informed On The Difference.”