Unabridged Devil's Dictionary

NOTES

N O T E S Unless otherwise specified, allworks cited in the notes are by AB. No distinction ismade in the notes as to whether the item appeared under AB's byline or a pseudonym or was unsigned. Dates of first publication are provided when known (note that many of AB's "essays" in CW are composites made from material written over long periods of time). Page numbers in citations are exact page numbers for direct quotations, first page only for items not quoted. Obvious typographical errors in texts cited have been silently corrected. Minor variations in readings that sometimes occur between appearancesinAm and £are not indicated. The misspellings in AB'sLittle Johnny sketchesare intentional. Preface, 2.5-11 ] The text here derivesin part from the prospectus for CW. In C, for "The Devil's . . . slang"read: With reference to certain actualand possible questions of priority and originality, it may be explained that this Word Book was begun in the San Francisco "Wasp" in the year 1881, and has been continued, in a desultory way,in several journals and periodicals. As it was no part of the author's purpose to define allthe words in the language, or even to makea complete alphabeticalseries, the stopping-place of the book was determined by considerations of bulk. In the event of this volume proving acceptableto that part of the reading public to which in humility it is addressed—enlightened souls who prefer dry wines to sweet, sense to sentiment, good English to slang, and wit to humor—there maypossibly be another if the author be spared for the compiling. 2.14 plagiarism] Seenote on "Plagiarism," concerning charges leveled againstAB. 2.18 wit ] Cf. "Wit and Humor" (1903; CWio.ioi): "Humor istolerant, tender; itsridicule caresses. Wit stabs, begs pardon—and turns the weapon in the wound." 2.21 Gassalasca Jape, S.J. ]Jape meansto joke or quip; to makesport of. ABintroduced Fr. Jape in "The Devil's Dictionary" for 2 Apr. 1881 as the priest-poet "Gassalaska Jape, S.B.T., of the Mission San Diablo." He mentioned Fr. Jape again the following week in "Prattle" (W} 9 Apr. 1881: 228),now spelling his first name "Gassalasca" (and publishing an unreprinted poem by Fr. Jape), and in "The Devil's Dictionary" for 28 Oct. Fr. Japeis not mentioned again until 1906 in the preface to C, now identified asapriest of the Society of Jesus, that is, a Jesuit. AB never again mentions the fictitious order "S.B.T." or the "Mission San Diablo." If AB did not know such proverbs as"Whenever two Jesuits come together, the devil always makesthree" or "Don't trust a monk with your wife or aJesuitwith your money," he certainly knewthat Jesuits arehighly trained and well educated and was familiar with the stereotype of Jesuits asbeing deceitful and perfidious—the exactreason for associating Fr. Japewith them. Fr. Japeiscredited with thirty-one poems in D, typically the most barbed, and pertaining mostly to religious matters. Abacot ] A spurious word, originating in a misprint ofbycocket (see OED), an ornamental headdress worn by men and women. Abada ] I.e., the rhinoceros. Abaddon ] In Revelation 9:u,Abaddon isthe name of "the angel of the bottomless pit." Abandon ] Chauncey Mitchell Depew (1834-1928) was a prominent Republican figure in the later nineteenth century. He served aspresident of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad (1885-98) and was U.S. senator from New York (1899-1911) but declined several other prestigious posts, including secretary of state under Benjamin Harrison. AB was skewering Depew in the papers around the time this definition appeared in print. Abasement ]Am andE add the following verses: He prevented his displacement By the practice of abasement; But what made the wretch exempt From dismissalwas contempt, For his master couldn't bring Himself to kickso base a thing. Abatis ] Cf. "Fool and Philosopher; or, Brief Seasons of Intellectual Dissipation" (1873; Cobwebsfrom an Empty Skull 100): "S[oldier].—What is an abattis? Ffool].—Rubbish placed in front of afort to keep the rubbish outside from getting in the rubbish inside." See also "War Topics" (E} 5June 1898: 18): "The front of the enemy's earthworks was protected by an intricate abatisof felled trees denuded of their foliage and twigs." Abat-voix ] From the French: a sounding board above a pulpit. Cf. i Corinthians 13 :i: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass,or a tinkling...