My brief introduction of Ambrose Bierce became lengthy enough that I gave you only three examples of definitions from his The Devil’s Dictionary. I can’t resist passing along some more of them.

DISCLAIMERS:
1. The opinions expressed in the definitions belong to Bierce, not to me.
2. The definitions are certainly not applicable to you or to me.

Bierce’s jaundiced view of human nature establishes a recurring theme in his definitions.

childhood, n. The period of human life between the idiocy of infancy and the folly of youth—twice removed from the sin of manhood and three times removed from the remorse of age.
neighbor, n. One whom we are commanded to love as ourselves, and who does all he knows to make us disobedient.

He applies that jaundiced view to many of the areas of human activity. I intend to return to some of those in particular in later columns, but for now I furnish examples dealing with the relationship between the sexes.

marriage, n. The state or condition of a community consisting of a master, a mistress and two slaves, making in all, two.
female, n. One of the opposing, or unfair, sex.
male, n. A member of the unconsidered, or negligible sex. The male of the human race is commonly known (to the female) as Mere Man. The genus has two varieties: good providers and bad providers.
bait, n. A preparation that renders the hook more palatable. The best kind is beauty.
beauty, n. The power by which a woman charms a lover and terrifies a husband.
wedding, n. A ceremony at which two persons undertake to become one, one undertakes to become nothing, and nothing undertakes to become supportable.
seine, n. A kind of net for effecting an involuntary change of environment. For fish it is made strong and coarse, but women are more easily taken with a singularly delicate fabric weighted with small, cut stones.
witch, n. (1) Any ugly and repulsive old woman, in a wicked league with the devil. (2) A beautiful and attractive young woman, in wickedness a league beyond the devil.
belladonna, n. In Italian a beautiful lady; in English a deadly poison. A striking example of the essential identity of the two tongues.

Obviously, women take the brunt of Bierce’s jaundice in these examples (see DISCLAIMERS, above), but the balance is restored when we look at his skewering of the worlds of politics, business, religion, education, and the professions, all dominated by men in his day.

Nevertheless, I don’t want the misogynist flavor of the definitions above to be the last taste left in your mouth, so here is another one of more general nature.

idiot, n. A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controlling. The Idiot's activity is not confined to any special field of thought or action, but "pervades and regulates the whole." He has the last word in everything; his decision is unappealable. He sets the fashions and opinion of taste, dictates the limitations of speech and circumscribes conduct with a dead-line.

The puzzler I posed for you last time is the following:

What do the following words have in common?

The answer is that removing all the occurrences of the letter “s” from them leaves eight valid words.

Until next time, send me your solutions (or suggestions or complaints or stumpers) at hfox@juno.com or 2005 Burroughs Drive, Dayton, Ohio 45406.