First published between 1881 and 1911, the Devil's Dictionary is the work of Ambrose Bierce, who was born in Meigs County, Ohio, in 1842, and who vanished without trace in Mexico in 1913. Some examples:
Absurdity: A statement of belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion.
Barometer: An ingenious instrument which indicated what kind of weather we are having.
Clairvoyant: A person, commonly a woman, who has the power of seeing that which is invisible to her patron...namely that he is a blockhead.
Diplomacy: The patriotic art of lying for one's country.
Egotist: A person of low taste, more interested in himself than in me.
Fiddle: An instrument to tickle human ears by friction of a horse's tail on the entrails of a cat.
Lawyer: One skilled in circumvention of the law.
Ocean: A body of water occupying about two-thirds of a world made for man, who has no gills.
Positive: Mistaken at the top of one's voice.
Truthful: Dumb and illiterate.
Is anyone willing to attempt modern definitions for these everyday words?
1. diplomaacy
2. education
3. free press
4. highbrow
5. jazz
6. lowbrow
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5 comments:
Very interesting, and probably most have better definitions than what Webster has.
I shall try to remember to try this.
I thought it was interesting - we were out of town and I didn't have time to check blogs the last few days.
Thanks Robin. I can always count on you!
Isn't lowbrow someone who needs a face lift, and higbrow is someone who had an extra good face lift??
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