Ambrose Bierce
Paperback | Pages: 404 pages Rating: 4.11 | 8919 Users | 583 Reviews
Specify Of Books The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary
| Title | : | The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary |
| Author | : | Ambrose Bierce |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 404 pages |
| Published | : | January 3rd 2002 by University of Georgia Press (first published 1906) |
| Categories | : | Humor. Nonfiction. Classics. Reference. Humanities. Language. Literature. Comedy |
Description Supposing Books The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary
If we could only put aside our civil pose and say what we really thought, the world would be a lot like the one alluded to in The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary. There, a bore is "a person who talks when you wish him to listen," and happiness is "an agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another." This is the most comprehensive, authoritative edition ever of Ambrose Bierce’s satiric masterpiece. It renders obsolete all other versions that have appeared in the book’s ninety-year history. A virtual onslaught of acerbic, confrontational wordplay, The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary offers some 1,600 wickedly clever definitions to the vocabulary of everyday life. Little is sacred and few are safe, for Bierce targets just about any pursuit, from matrimony to immortality, that allows our willful failings and excesses to shine forth. This new edition is based on David E. Schultz and S. T. Joshi’s exhaustive investigation into the book’s writing and publishing history. All of Bierce’s known satiric definitions are here, including previously uncollected, unpublished, and alternative entries. Definitions dropped from previous editions have been restored while nearly two hundred wrongly attributed to Bierce have been excised. For dedicated Bierce readers, an introduction and notes are also included. Ambrose Bierce’s Devil’s Dictionary is a classic that stands alongside the best work of satirists such as Twain, Mencken, and Thurber. This unabridged edition will be celebrated by humor fans and word lovers everywhere.Be Specific About Books As The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary
| ISBN: | 0820324019 (ISBN13: 9780820324012) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Rating Of Books The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary
Ratings: 4.11 From 8919 Users | 583 ReviewsRate Of Books The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary
Conservative, n. A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others.Impiety, n. Your irreverence toward my deity.Patriotism, n. Combustible rubbish ready to the torch of any one ambitious to illuminate his name. In Dr. Johnson's famous dictionary patriotism is defined as the last resort of a scoundrel. With all due respect to an enlightened but inferior lexicographer I beg to submit it is the first.Selfish, adj. Devoid ofOne of my favorite things about this book is peoples reactions to it.My mother-in-law, who is a devout Christian (see below for Bierces definition), was trying to measure my husbands height and decided to use a book to line up the measuring tape with the top of his head. The Devils Dictionary was the first she found and she used it before glancing down at the name. Ive never seen her drop a book so fast! When she had to measure him again you can bet she rummaged around on the shelf for a
I know I know this is not a real dictionary, but I read the entries randomly, and sometimes I checked a word if there was an amusing definition when I was skimming reading this book. That's why I put it as reference.I am tempted to put it on read shelf, but I admit I haven't read all of the definitions.
I do recognize the genius of Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary. I giggled, I guffawed, I snorted, and I laughed in turns. I smiled at some particularly insightful bits of satire. I nodded happily when Bierce's wit assaulted his peers or scored a palpable hit on an issue or a word I wanted to see skewered. I wanted so badly to enjoy Bierce's classic more than I did, but for every entry I enjoyed there was another that made me bored (I should mention, however, that there was nothing that I
Bitter, biting, and on the money.Other folks have given examples of Bierce's definitions, but I'll add a few more:Responsibility, n. A detachable burden easily shifted to the shoulders of God, Fate, Fortune, Luck or one's neighbor.Railroad, n. The chief of many mechanical devices enabling us to get away from where we are to where we are no better off.Influence, n. In politics, a visionary quo given in exchange for a substantial quid.Bore, n. A person who talks when you wish him to listen.
I want the Bierce definition of a quokka. I think they have the power to bring an end to all cynicism and wit. Hash, x. There is no definition for this word - nobody knows what hash is.These are still funny over a hundred years later. But sometimes it was like, ugh, Bierce you were really a man of the times.
For years now, I've kept the following definition tacked to my cubicle wall:EDITOR, n. A person who combines the judicial functions of Minos, Rhadamanthus and Aeacus, but is placable with an obolus; a severely virtuous censor, but so charitable withal that he tolerates the virtues of others and the vices of himself; who flings about him the splintering lightning and sturdy thunders of admonition till he resembles a bunch of firecrackers petulantly uttering his mind at the tail of a dog; then
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