BOOK

The New Devil’s Dictionary: Words From “Idealistic Cynics”

This book was created by Duane R. Charter, Ann McMillan, and myself (Irina I. Agoulnik), in respectful memory of  Ambrose Bierce, a quintessential ‘idealistic cynic’ and author of the original ‘Devil’s dictionary (1911).

Here are some examples of my own contribution to this fun & witty book (2019):

• Ambrosiana (n.) – a voluptuous woman of Italian origin, on a fruit & wine diet.

• Crowdsourcing (n. & v.) – virtually selling dreams…

• Ebullyence (n) – an exuberant online bullying (by AI?)…

• Flabbergast (v.) – to flummox or perplex someone with facts such as: Big Bang – is an expansion, not an explosion… A Black Hole is not a hole but a highly condensed matter… Our universe was created not via Big Bang but from a Black Hole…Or both?

• Futzing doryphore (n.) – a person who is wasting time by involuntary yet pedantically criticizing others.

• MAG (n.) – a sector of population (baby-boomers and younger) involved in computer games. The youngsters sympathetically called them  Middle Aged Gamers (MAG), which was readily accepted and mutated carried into “wizards” by happy MAGs.

• Marijuana (n.) – an illegal immigrant who used grassroots political approach to change the law and gain her legal status, and then relax.

• Spice (n.) – a pungent flavor of life for one of the five traditionally recognized senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch (art, music, food, perfume, and sex, respectively).

• Thanksgiving (n. & v.) – a multicultural ritual of sacrificing and consuming a bird from the order of galliformes to celebrate gratitude, happiness and everyday miracles (XVII – XXI centuries).

• Xanthocomic (n.) – a Greek clown in yellow costume.

The authors agreed to use only the first two images for the book cover illustrations.