Sunday, October 01, 2006

From the Devil's Dictionary

I picked up a copy of Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary a couple weeks ago, and thought I might throw out just a few randomly selected definitions as a good way to wile away a very rainy Sunday afternoon:

- Resolute, adj. Obstinate in a course that we approve.

- Day, n. A period of twenty-four hours, mostly misspent. This period is divided into two parts, the day proper and the night, or day improper - the former devoted to sins of business, the latter consecrated to the other sort. These two kinds of social activity overlap.

- Harangue, n. A speech by an opponent, who is known as an harangue-outang.

- Once, adv. Enough.

- Monday, n. In Christian countries, the day after the baseball game.

- Famous, adj. Conspicuously miserable.