No Matter How You Say It: Positivity
Word Origin
The sense of “absolute” is from mid-15c. Meaning in philosophy of “dealing only with facts” is from 1590s. Sense broadened to “expressed without qualification” (1590s), then, of persons, “confident in opinion” (1660s).
Roughly, the word in -ity usually means the quality of being what the adjective describes, or concretely an instance of the quality, or collectively all the instances; & the word in -ism means the disposition, or collectively all those who feel it. [Fowler]
from Etymonline.com
Can you see how positivity is rooted in confidence or certainty?
Sign Language
Check out the following links from Handspeak for the American Sign Language interpretation of the words
Both of these words are compound signs that combine thinking with positive and negative. Can you see the difference between positive and negative thinking?
Positivity Idioms
The glass is half-full: the positive spin rather than half-empty
Look on the bright side: look for the positive
Count your Blessings – gratitude keeps you positive
Every cloud has a silver lining: the positive may not be obvious at first
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade: make the best of a bad situation
When one door closes, another one opens: wait for things to get better
Keep your chin up: keep looking up
There is light at the end of the tunnel: persevere until the end for success
Hang in there: don’t quit
In Other Languages
Spanish – positividad
French – positivité
German – Positivität
Italian – positività
Swedish – positivitet
Basque – positibotasuna
Portugese – positividade
