Tuesday, March 7, 2023

R is for "The Devil's Dictionary" (No. 219 in a series)


The Devil's Dictionary is a satirical dictionary written by Ambrose Bierce (1842-c.1914, caricatured above by David Levine). Bierce was an American author who began the book as a newspaper serial. First published in 1906 as The Cynic's Word Book, it was retitled in 1911, using the name we know it by today, which is the title that Bierce preferred.

REPORTER, n. A writer who guesses his way to the truth and dispels it with a tempest of words.