The Curmudgeon's Dictionary

Twenty Years Ago When The Author First Read Ambrose Bierce'S Devil'S Dictionary He Was Ecstatic. Here At Last Was A Creative Work That Was Utterly Lacking In Discrimination. Worth No Regard Whatever For Race Creed Color Sex Religion Or Fast Food Preference Bierce Kicked Everyone'S Sacred Cow Right In The Udder. The Author Instantly Knew That Somehow Some Day He Must Continue The Work Begun By Ambrose. So It Is That The Curmudgeon'S Dictionary Follows The Great Bierce'S Lead In Flaying Without Mercy The Pretentious Of Our World.. At The Same Time Tcd Unavoidably Reflects Many Of The Changes In Style That Have Occurred In Our Language Since 1911 When The Devil'S Dictionary Was First Published. Many Of The Old Poets Like Biddle Tamey And Opned Teal So Well Quoted By Bierce Are Gone Having Been Replaced By Such Contemporary Greats As Taner Bane And Sigson Kolgy Who Though They Lack The Elegance Of The Poets Of Bierce'S Day Have The Virtues Of Simplicity And Forthrightness.. Then Too Changes In Science And Technology Have Brought Us Many New Terms Such As Computer Cat Scan Jive And Monica Which Did Not Yet Exist In Bierce'S Day. Moreover Changes In The Attention Span Have Made It Desirable To Abbreviate Many Definitions And Support The Work Of The Aforementioned More Concise Poets. The Author Has Violated This Procedure Only When Considerations Of Clarity Or Beauty Have Made It Imperative As With The Haunting Ode To A Giant Bonsai Tree.. Aside From Such Evolutionary Matters One Will Find That Some Of The Venerable Bierce'S Definitions Are Still Valid Today And Have Found Their Way Into This Magnificent Book In Updated Form. The Updating Is No Criticism Of The Master Only Recognition That Time Moves Things If Not Forward At Least Along.