The Devil’s Dictionary994 terms |
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A2
- Abrupt
- adj. Sudden, without ceremony, like the arrival of a cannon- shot and the departure of the soldier whose interests are most affected by it. Dr. Samuel Johnson beautifully said of another author’s ideas that they were “concatenated without abruption.”
- Abscond
- v.i. To “move in a mysterious way,” commonly with the
property of another.
Spring beckons! All things to the call respond;
Phela Orm
The trees are leaving and cashiers abscond. - Absent
- adj. Peculiarly exposed to the tooth of detraction; vilifed;
hopelessly in the wrong; superseded in the consideration and affection
of another.
To men a man is but a mind. Who cares
Jogo Tyree
What face he carries or what form he wears?
But woman’s body is the woman. O,
Stay thou, my sweetheart, and do never go,
But heed the warning words the sage hath said:
A woman absent is a woman dead. - Absentee
- n. A person with an income who has had the forethought to remove himself from the sphere of exaction.
- Absolute
- adj. Independent, irresponsible. An absolute monarchy is one in which the sovereign does as he pleases so long as he pleases the assassins. Not many absolute monarchies are left, most of them having been replaced by limited monarchies, where the sovereign’s power for evil (and for good) is greatly curtailed, and by republics, which are governed by chance.
- Abstainer
- n. A weak person who yields to the temptation of denying
himself a pleasure. A total abstainer is one who abstains from
everything but abstention, and especially from inactivity in the
affairs of others.
Said a man to a crapulent youth: “I thought
G.J.
You a total abstainer, my son.”
“So I am, so I am,” said the scrapgrace caught —
“But not, sir, a bigoted one.” - Absurdity
- n. A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one’s own opinion.
- Academe
- n. An ancient school where morality and philosophy were taught.
- Academy
- n. [from Academe] A modern school where football is taught.