Your access to this website and/or its content is subject to certain terms and conditions. If you do not wish to agree with the terms and conditions, then you should leave this website immediately.
| Home | Privacy | Legal | Contact | Humour |
Your access to this website and/or its content is subject to certain terms and conditions. If you do not wish to agree with the terms and conditions, then you should leave this website immediately.
| Home | Privacy | Legal | Contact | Humour |
I first read about Ambrose Bierce and his "devil's dictionary" in the Young World Saturday supplement of The Hindu. That was back when I was in school. Several years later, I came across a full-text version of the dictionary on the Internet. So, I compiled this free PDF version using HTMLDoc.
The Devil's Dictionary by the great American literary figure Ambrose Bierce remains the unchallenged repository of brutally frank, unusually cynical and thought-provoking descriptions for words and phrases in English. Do not be surprised if you are already familiar with some of them. Even in his time, his work was liberally copied by others. Here is a small dose.
- ALLIANCE, n. In international politics, the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply inserted in each other's pockets that they cannot separately plunder a third.
- BRIDE, n. A woman with a fine prospect of happiness behind her.
- CLAIRVOYANT, n. A person, commonly a woman, who has the power of seeing that which is invisible to her patron, namely, that he is a blockhead.
- DEBAUCHEE, n. One who has so earnestly pursued pleasure that he has had the misfortune to overtake it.
- EXTINCTION, n. The raw material out of which theology created the future state.
- FEMALE, n. One of the opposing, or unfair, sex.
- GUILLOTINE, n. A machine which makes a Frenchman shrug his shoulders with good reason.
- HAPPINESS, n. An agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another.
- IGNORAMUS, n. A person unacquainted with certain kinds of knowledge familiar to yourself, and having certain other kinds that you know nothing about.
Here is the full 112-page version. Save it to your disc or read it from within your browser.
The_Devil's_Dictionary_Ambrose_Bierce_eBook.pdfThis free eBook is in PDF format and can be printed to make a booklet.
---o0O0o---
This article was first published in April 2003.
| Home | Privacy | Legal | Contact | Humour |
© V. Subhash, 2010. All rights reserved.
Moral Volcano is the work of an Indian, thinker, astrologer, software programmer, GNU/Linux user, web designer, technical writer, lexicographer, hacker, gamer, pioneer IE Blocker, amateur photographer, and somewhat podcast transcriptionist. named V. Subhash (Me). I have written a fake American Policy for Dummies book. My e-book How To Invest In Stocks PDF eBook is free but not fake. So, I my PDF eBook version of Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary, which was created using the all-text original provided by the Guttenberg project and a free software HTMLDoc.
I do not have any time for social notworking sites such as Facebook. They cause a huge loss of productivity in offices where employees have access to Internet. I had a Johnny Bravo fan site but that was gone when Yahoo closed Geocities. Sites such as Facebook, Linked-In, MySpace, Orkut, and Twitter thrive only because spies and marketers feel there is a great need for easy access to demographic and personal information. "Free" pretends to be free for a reason. Otherwise, everything comes with a price tag.
Finally, this website blocks Internet Explorer - all versions, not just IE6. This is the first website on the Internet to do so. If you have a website, I welcome you to do so.
