[Ads-l] cynicism

[Jonathan Lighter]

OED needs another def. to cover the very widespread sense,

'pessimism, fatalism, or unwarranted skepticism.'

_Mutatis mutandis_ for "cynical" and "cynic."

In my experience, these go back at least to the mid-'70s, and probably a
decade earlier.  It sounds normal.

And that's just my experience.

E.g.:

2009  http://www.thedailymind.com/how-to/how-you-can-defeat-cynicism-and-become-a-positive-thinker/

<http://www.thedailymind.com/how-to/how-you-can-defeat-cynicism-and-become-a-positive-thinker/>
:  A cynical person will almost always choose to doubt, disbelieve or
discredit, even when there is no logical reason to do so. ...You are going
to avoid cynicism and look on the bright side of life.

2015 Pres. Obama on CNN (May 12) : We must guard against cynicism...the
idea that the poor are always with us.

JL


-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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