The Devil's Dictionary: Difference between revisions

A perennial favorite of [[Atheism|atheists,]] [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism|cynics,]] 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 [[Edgar Allan Poe]] and [[H.P. Lovecraft]]. 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.

According to its author, it is intended to be used as a school textbook. A copy can be found [[{{PAGENAME}}/Source|here, on this very wiki]]. If you insist on going elsewhere, you can find a copy online [http://www.alcyone.com/max/lit/devils/index.html here]., Oror [http://packages.debian.org/lenny/dict-devil here], in dictd-compatible dictionary format.