DON'T PANIC

English

hope

Nearest English gloss

an open future, held without guarantee

What the gloss loses

In wellness copy, hope is a product. Here it is a posture toward a future that has not happened.

Etymology

Old English hopa, related to words for expectation. Cognate with Dutch hoop, German Hoffnung. Not derived from the Greek elpis, though later theology braided them.

History

English hope has meant both the thing expected and the act of expecting. Motivational use quietly converts it into a forecast. We refuse that conversion.

Does this hope know the ending, or only refuse to close it?