History Literature / TheDevilsDictionary

* OverlyNarrowSuperlative:
-->'''Connoisseur''', ''n''. A specialist who knows everything about something and nothing about anything else.

-->A speech by an opponent, who is known as an [[JustForPun harrangue-outang]].

-->'''Homicide''', ''n.'' The slaying of one human being by another. There are four kinds of homocide: felonious, excusable, justifiable, and praiseworthy, but it makes no great difference to the person slain whether he fell by one kind or another -- the classification is for advantage of the lawyers.

* BlackComedy: On show throughout. See, for example, the entry on "homicide".

A perennial favorite of UsefulNotes/{{atheis|m}}ts, [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism cynics]], [[{{Troll}} denizens of Encyclopedia Dramatica]], and good old-fashioned depressed people, it's considered by some to be a ''bona fide'' classic of American literature, although it isn't very well known in the mainstream and never achieved the notoriety of similar works, such as the writings of Creator/EdgarAllanPoe and Creator/HPLovecraft. In a nutshell, ''The Devil's Dictionary'' is a dictionary that claims to present the "true" definitions of words, or rather the ''concepts'' said words supposedly represent, free of the superficial and hypocritical connotations they've gained throughout their years in the zeitgeist. As expected of Bitter Bierce, the vast majority of these paint even universally benevolent concepts (like "friendship") in a very grim light, often accompanied by poems or rhymes written by Bierce under a series of bizarre and cryptic aliases. Bierce had a fierce hatred for mediocrity, common morality and religion, and his frequent jabs caused a great deal of controversy.

A perennial favorite of UsefulNotes/{{atheis|m}}ts, [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism cynics]], [[{{Troll}} denizens of Encyclopedia Dramatica]], and good old-fashioned depressed people, it's considered by some to be a ''bona fide'' classic of American literature, although it isn't very well known in the mainstream and never achieved the notoriety of similar works, such as the writings of Creator/EdgarAllanPoe and Creator/HPLovecraft. In a nutshell, ''The Devil's Dictionary'' is a dictionary that claims to present the "true" definitions of words, or rather the ''concepts'' said words supposedly represent, free of the superficial and hypocritical connotations they've gained throughout their years in the zeitgeist. As expected of Bitter Bierce, the vast majority of these paint even universally benevolent concepts (like "friendship") in a very grim light, often accompanied by poems or rhymes written by Bierce under a series of bizarre and cryptic aliases. Bierce had fierce hatred for mediocrity, common morality and religion, and his frequent jabs caused a great deal of controversy.

-->'''Senate''', ''n.'' A body of elderly gentlemen charged with high duties and misdemeanors.

* CorruptChurch

* MatzoFever: Bierce evidently had it, considering the following definition:
-->'''Hebrew''', ''n''. A male Jew, as distinguished from the Shebrew, an altogether superior creation.

->DEJEUNER, n.

* HornyDevils:
--> '''Incubus,''' ''n.'': One of a race of highly improper demons who, though probably not wholly extinct, may be said to have seen their best nights. For a complete account of incubi and succubi, including incubae and succubae, see the ''Liber Demonorum of Protassus (Paris, 1328)'', which contains much curious information that would be out of place in a dictionary intended as a text-book for the public schools.\\
Victor Hugo relates that in the Channel Islands Satan himself -- tempted more than elsewhere by the beauty of the women, doubtless -- sometimes plays at incubus, greatly to the inconvenience and alarm of the good dames who wish to be loyal to their marriage vows, generally speaking. A certain lady applied to the parish priest to learn how they might, in the dark, distinguish the hardy intruder from their husbands. The holy man said they must feel his brow for [[CuckoldHorns horns]]; [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_of_the_horns#Offensive_gesture but Hugo is ungallant enough to hint a doubt of the efficacy of the test.]]

A hilarious collection of {{broken Aesop}}s, {{Aesop}}s with UnfortunateImplications, and spoof definitions by American satirist Creator/AmbroseBierce. They originally ran a few a week in newspapers, under the title ''The Cynic's Word Book'', but were eventually compiled into a book that's now free from copyright. Bierce had nothing but contempt for the mores and customs of his fellow man, and his book is full of ungentle {{Deconstruction}} of what people secretly mean when they speak.

Victor Hugo relates that in the Channel Islands Satan himself -- tempted more than elsewhere by the beauty of the women, doubtless -- sometimes plays at incubus, greatly to the inconvenience and alarm of the good dames who wish to be loyal to their marriage vows, generally speaking. A certain lady applied to the parish priest to learn how they might, in the dark, distinguish the hardy intruder from their husbands. The holy man said they must [[HornedHumanoid feel his brow for horns]]; [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_of_the_horns#Offensive_gesture but Hugo is ungallant enough to hint a doubt of the efficacy of the test.]]

--> '''R.I.P.:''' A careless abbreviation of requiescat in pace, attesting to indolent goodwill to the dead. According to the learned Dr. Drigge, however, the letters originally meant nothing more than ''reductus in pulvis''

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: From "Story":
--> General H.H. Wotherspoon, president of the Army War College, has a pet rib-nosed baboon, an animal of uncommon intelligence but imperfectly beautiful. Returning to his apartment one evening, the General was surprised and pained to find Adam (for so the creature is named, the general being a Darwinian) sitting up for him and wearing his master's best uniform coat, epaulettes and all.\\
"You confounded remote ancestor!" thundered the great strategist, "what do you mean by being out of bed after naps? -- and with my coat on!"\\
Adam rose and with a reproachful look got down on all fours in the manner of his kind and, scuffling across the room to a table, returned with a visiting-card: General Barry had called and, judging by an empty champagne bottle and several cigar-stumps, had been hospitably entertained while waiting. The general apologized to his faithful progenitor and retired. The next day he met General Barry, who said:\\
"Spoon, old man, when leaving you last evening I forgot to ask you about those excellent cigars. Where did you get them?"\\
General Wotherspoon did not deign to reply, but walked away.\\
"Pardon me, please," said Barry, moving after him; "I was joking of course. Why, I knew it was not you before I had been in the room fifteen minutes."

* TheAllConcealingI: Inverted by Bierce, who states, "The frank yet graceful use of ‘I’ distinguishes a good writer from a bad; the latter carries with it the manner of a thief trying to cloak his loot."

* ItsAWonderfulPlot: These stories begin when TheProtagonist adopts Bierce's definition of '''birth'''- "the first and direst of all disasters."

%%* SpoofAesop. Please add context before un-commenting.

* UnfortunateImplications: Many of the {{Spoof Aesop}}s are intentionally misleading or questionable. [[invoked]]

A hilarious collection of {{broken Aesop}}s, {{family unfriendly Aesop}}s, and spoof definitions by American satirist Creator/AmbroseBierce. They originally ran a few a week in newspapers, under the title ''The Cynic's Word Book'', but were eventually compiled into a book that's now free from copyright. Bierce had nothing but contempt for the mores and customs of his fellow man, and his book is full of ungentle {{Deconstruction}} of what people secretly mean when they speak.

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: [[InvokedTrope Very deliberately]].

* PredationIsNatural: Bierce’s definition of '''Edible''' suggests this, with a “[[Disney/TheLionKing circle of life]]” spin to it.

* TheCynic: "A blackguard who faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be. Hence the custom among [[Myth/ScythianMythology the Scythians]] of plucking out a cynic’s eye to improve his vision."

* SqueamishAboutSlaughter: His definition of '''Carnivorous''' suggests that Bierce might feel this way.

A tall, spare figure in a robe of white,\\
Whose eyes diffused a melancholy light.\\

* PrejudiceTropes:
-->'''Bigot''', ''n''. One who is obstinately and zealously attached to an opinion [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality that you do not entertain]].

* ItsAWonderfulPlot: These stories begin when TheProtagonist adopts Bierce's definition of birth- "the first and direst of all disasters."

* ComedicSociopathy
-->'''Happiness''', ''n''. An agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another.