ZOE: You sanguine about the kind of reception we’re apt to receive on an Alliance ship, Cap’n?

MAL: Absolutely. [Pause] What’s “sanguine” mean?

ZOE: “Sanguine”. Hopeful. Plus, point of interest: it also means “bloody”.

MAL: Well, that pretty much covers all the options, don’t it?

Drew Z. Greenberg (contemp.) TV producer and writer
Firefly, 1×05 “Safe” (8 Nov 2002)