larengreyumphlett.blogspot.com



To purchase the books "The Power of Perception" and "The Poetic Realities, The Poetic Fantasies" please visit Laren Grey Umphlett's Amazon author page:

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

"The Devil's Dictionary" by Ambrose Bierce





"The Devil's Dictionary", originally titled "The Cynic's Word Book", is a satirical reference dictionary written in 1911 by Ambrose Bierce. It offers deep entertaining ideas about common words.

Here is a link to a free copy of the book:



Here are some favorite bits...


  • Absurdityn. A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion.
  • Conservativen. A statesman enamored of existing evils, as opposed to a Liberal, who wants to replace them with others.
  • Madadj. Affected with a high degree of intellectual independence; not conforming to standards of thought, speech, and action derived by the conformants from study of themselves; at odds with the majority; in short, unusual. It is noteworthy that persons are pronounced mad by officials destitute of evidence that they themselves are sane.
  • Pign. An animal (Porcus omnivorus) closely allied to the human race by the splendor and vivacity of its appetite, which, however, is inferior in scope, for it sticks at pig.
  • Politeness , n. The most acceptable hypocrisy.
  • Scripturesn. The sacred books of our holy religion, as distinguished from the false and profane writings on which all other faiths are based.
  • Selfishadj. Devoid of consideration for the selfishness of others.



        1 comment:

        1. There is an app as well http://aimermedia.com/app/the-devils-dictionary/

          ReplyDelete