The Literature Network - Ambrose Bierce's Definitions in The Devil's Dictionary: X, Y, and Z

Ambrose Bierce's Definitions in The Devil's Dictionary: X, Y, and Z

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From: CCPA Monitor
Date: 20070401
Author:Bierce, Ambrose

X: A needless letter in our alphabet that has resisted all attacks so far by spelling reformers. Its invincibility is perhaps due to the letter X being the sacred symbol of 10 dollars.

YEAR: A period of 365 disappointments.

YESTERDAY: The infancy of youth, the youth of manhood, the entire past of old age.

YOKE: An implement that defines the matrimonial situation with precision, point, and poignancy.

ZEAL: A certain nervous disorder afflicting the young and inexperienced.

ZENITH: A point in the heavens directly overhead to a standing man or a growing cabbage. A man in bed or a cabbage in the ...

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