(n.) stating that people in a hierarchy tend to rise to their "level of incompetence".
employees are promoted based on their success in previous jobs until they reach a position where they are no longer competent.

(also: incompetence)

(adj.) persistent, dogged, and not easily dispelled or dissuaded. like a stall vendor in a latin american tourist trap. or a d, i suppose.

according to some philosophies, the two forces that compete eternally for the privilege of predominating across the cosmos are best described as order and chaos

as barbarian tribes and pirate republics have struggled against imperialistic superpowers throughout history, and as the gods of civilization and culture have fought against dragons and giants and the primordial forces of raw nature in mythology, so too in the world of physics does the universe seem to vacillate between the orderly movement of the vast cosmos universe predicted by general relativity, and the chaotic and unpredictable mechanics of the infinitesimal quantum world.

in the grand scheme of things our paltry views of right and wrong are both meaningless and absurd

have you seen our entry on cheese?

The instrument and symbol of a freeman's power to make a fool of himself and a wreck of his country.
(also: freedom)
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

(n.) small furry critter with a beefsteak tied to its butt and a rather bad case of buck teeth. known for its facility of chewing up trees to make damns.

n. An ancient Egyptian, formerly in universal use among modern civilized nations as medicine, and now engaged in supplying art with an excellent pigment. He is handy, too, in museums in gratifying the vulgar curiosity that serves to distinguish man from the lower animals.

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By means of the Mummy, mankind, it is said,
Attests to the gods its respect for the dead.
We plunder his tomb, be he sinner or saint,
Distil him for physic and grind him for paint,
Exhibit for money his poor, shrunken frame,
And with levity flock to the scene of the shame.
O, tell me, ye gods, for the use of my rhyme:
For respecting the dead what's the limit of time?
—Scopas Brune

(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

piece of the former yugoslavia, and formerly united with the czech republic

artists andy warhol and steve ditko came from slovak immigrant families, suggesting that this is mostly a place people come from rather than go to

A place of punishments and rewards. The poet assures us that —

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"Stone walls do not a prison make,"

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but a combination of the stone wall, the political parasite and the moral instructor is no garden of sweets.
(also: crime)
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

Scandal ruining the coofl

...

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To set your wisdom (holding not a doubt of it,
Although in truth there's neither bone nor skin to it)
At work upon a book, and so read out of it
The qualities that you have first read into it.
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

n. A sacred rite of such efficacy that he who finds himself in heaven without having undergone it will be unhappy forever. It is performed with water in two ways—by immersion, or plunging, and by aspersion, or sprinkling.

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But whether the plan of immersion
Is better than simple aspersion
Let those immersed
And those aspersed
Decide by the Authorized Version,
And by matching their agues tertian.
—G.J.

(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

a nation that exists to give Greece extra bonus points in eurovision

a holiday when you try to find a date for the day, or a 'valentine', and if you can't find one, you lose

❝are bad❞

Having the quality of magazine poetry. (also: FLUMMERY)

A condition experience by anerobic humans when they leave the relative safety of their small, intenstine-like basements.

(n.) a straw human acting as a piece of autumnul decor, as well as to frighten corn thieves away from corn. it operates on the same principle as the panopticon; the corn thief cannot be sure if the scarecrow is a real human capable of reprisal or simply a sack of hay. the uncertainty eats them alive from the inside until they destroy themselves.

compare gargoyles, similarly created as symbols of fear to ward off evil

a reasonably famous piece of hong kong cinema released in 1978, when the martial arts craze was still going relatively strong. the domestic popularity of the film was such that the central cast was propelled to significant local fame

the plot runs as such: the aged master of the poison clan once had five students, each trained to fight like a different kind of venomous animal: the quick-handed centipede, the flexible snake, the stingy scorpion, the really-good-at-climbing-walls lizard, and the, um, *indestructible* toad. however, this aged master is now on death's doorstoop, and he is haunted by a dream that one or more of these students have used his teachings for evil. he calls on his newest, youngest, sixth student to go to the nearby village and investigate to see which, if any, of the five are guilty, which is complicated by the fact that all the students wore masks and their identities are secret.

in case you're curious (but not curious enough to actually watch the movie): scorpion is evil, centipede is a willing accomplice, snake is an unwilling accomplice, toad is murdered and lizard is a hero who teams up with the main character.

People who always interrupt you when you need some privacy (also: excuses to be disrespectful)

Deliverance of sinners from the penalty of their sin, through their murder of the deity against whom they sinned. The doctrine of Redemption is the fundamental mystery of our holy religion, and whoso believeth in it shall not perish, but have everlasting life in which to try to understand it.

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We must awake Man's spirit from its sin,
And take some special measure for redeeming it;
Though hard indeed the task to get it in
Among the angels any way but teaming it,
Or purify it otherwise than steaming it.
I'm awkward at Redemption — a beginner:
My method is to crucify the sinner.
—Golgo Brone
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)