English Explanatory Dictionary

Micawber principle

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The claim that something good will turn up, especially when used to justify optimism.
  2. The claim that financial surplus is success and debt is failure.

Word forms

Micawber principle Micawber principles

Etymology

From the Dickens character Wilkins Micawber, noted for his inability to work his way out of poverty. Two of his enunciations have become elevated to "principles": * "Something will turn up." * "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds nought and six, result misery."

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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