Books with title The Devil's Dictionary : Ambrose Bierce's Action

American satirist AMBROSE GWINNETT BIERCE (1842-c. 1914) began his satirical redefinitions of ordinary words in a weekly newspaper in 1881, and saw them first collected in *The Cynic's Word Book* in 1906. But it was with the 1911 republication as *The Devil's Dictionary* that he struck comedy gold for the ages with his pointedly mocking and ironic riffs on politics, business, religion, the arts, and American culture at large. From *abasement* ("a decent and customary mental attitude in the presence of wealth or power; peculiarly appropriate in an employee when addressing an employer") to *zoology* ("the science and history of the animal kingdom, including its king, the House Fly"), *The Devil's Dictionary* remains as witty today as it was a century ago.

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The Devil's Dictionary is a satirical dictionary written by American journalist and author Ambrose Bierce. Originally published in 1906 as The Cynic's Word Book, it features Bierce's witty and often ironic spin on many common English words. Retitled in 1911, it has been followed by numerous "unabridged" versions compiled after Bierce's death, which include definitions absent from earlier editions.

Quotation, n: The act of repeating erroneously the words of another. Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary And this is just one of hundreds of pithy quotations taken directly from Ambrose Bierce's wildly popular and hilarious dictionary, aptly named The Devil's Dictionary. In the preface, Bierce explains how The Devil's Dictionary came to be: it is a collection of satirical word definitions that were first published in a newspaper over the course of several years. Bierce wrote the definitions as criticisms of political and social hypocrisy. The droll definitions and sharp wit of Bierce became incredibly popular. Soon, other publications were printing the definitions. Bierce was anthologized in many compilations of "cynic" writers, works that gained a reputation for being "silly." To refute the bad reputation his intelligent and exacting definitions were receiving by being associated with such idiocy, Bierce compiled his work and published it as The Devil's Dictionary. To his supporters he writes, "In merely resuming his own the author hopes to be held guiltless by those to whom the work is addressed -- enlightened souls who prefer dry wines to sweet, sense to sentiment, wit to humor and clean English to slang." Bierce chose the title The Devil's Dictionary over the title The Cynic's Word Book. The dictionary has become a classic, and its candid observations have remained relevant a century later. Bierce's canon of work includes poetry, many short stories, and several novels and essays. The Devil's Dictionary is a unique work that perfectly illustrates his amazing capacity for impeccable word choice, his skepticism, and his dry humor and wit. Title: The Devil's Dictionary Author: Ambrose Bierce ISBN: 9781775420248 Version: Unabridged Language: English Reader: Various Format: MP3 Audio CD Tracks / Chapters: 17 Chapters Total running time: 08:25:48

This diabolically clever, mercilessly phrased volley of epigrams - alphabetized and documented with a profusion of apocryphal quotations - pointedly defines man's most sacred absurdities and punctures his most comfortably pompous habits of thought (Habit, n. A shackle for the free). The collection, which H. L. Mencken declared contained "some of the most gorgeous witticisms in the English language," began in a weekly paper in 1881 and ran to 1906, in which year it was published in book form; it did not, however, appear under the name The Devil's Dictionary for another five years, since that title was at first thought to be lacking in reverence. The work is addressed, the author said, to all those who "prefer dry wines to sweet, sense to sentiment, wit to humor and clean English to slang."

History, n. an account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers mostly fools. Marriage, n. The state or condition of a community consisting of a master, a mistress, and two slaves, making in all two. Self-Esteem, n. An erroneous appraisement. These caustic aphorisms, collected in The Devil's Dictionary, helped earn Ambrose Bierce the epithets Bitter Bierce, the Devil's Lexicographer, and the Wickedest Man in San Francisco. First published as The Cynic's Word Book (1906) and later reissued under its preferred name in 1911, Bierce's notorious collection of barbed definitions forcibly contradicts Samuel Johnson's earlier definition of a lexicographer as a harmless drudge. There was nothing harmless about Ambrose Bierce, and the words he shaped into verbal pitchforks a century ago--with or without the devil's help--can still draw blood today.