a prison or shelter for the care of homeless or misbehaving dogs

To take the property of another without observing the decent and customary reticences of theft. To effect a change of ownership with the candid concomitance of a brass band. To wrest the wealth of A from B and leave C lamenting a vanished opportunity.
(also: valhalla calling me)
(also: my mother told me)
(also: bad parents)
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

a surgical examination of your own body to determine how you died

n. An animal which strews its path with fainting women. As in Rome Christians were thrown to the lions, so centuries earlier in Otumwee, the most ancient and famous city of the world, female heretics were thrown to the mice. Jakak-Zotp, the historian, the only Otumwump whose writings have descended to us, says that these martyrs met their death with little dignity and much exertion. He even attempts to exculpate the mice (such is the malice of bigotry) by declaring that the unfortunate women perished, some from exhaustion, some of broken necks from falling over their own feet and some from lack of restoratives. The (also: mice), he avers, enjoyed the pleasures of the chase with composure. But if "Roman history is nine-tenths lying," we can hardly expect a smaller proportion of that rhetorical figure in the annals of a people capable of so incredible cruelty to lovely woman; for a hard heart has a false tongue.

(also: mice)
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

describing the middle class who ascended to prominence and superceded the landed aristocracy in the seventeenth century. they successfully embarrassed their social betters by proving there was a path to success beyond an inborn divine mandate, while selling out the lower class by perpetuating the cycle of labor exploitation.

also their taste in decor leans incontestably toward the brummagem.

(n.) the belief that any sacrifice is worth it to make the world a worse place

(n.) an elementary unit of time for human beings, consisting of one sunny phase that they spend awake and one dark phase that they spend asleep. known for passing extremely slowly on an individual basis, but practically flying by in the plural

if you are given the option between fungible goods of various prices, buy the most expensive one

People petting you for no real reason.

A bird whose thievish disposition suggested to some one that it might be taught to talk.

A drink served at banquets of the Olympian deities. The secret of its preparation is lost, but the modern Kentuckians believe that they come pretty near to a knowledge of its chief ingredient.

---

Juno drank a cup of nectar,
But the draught did not affect her.
Juno drank a cup of rye —
Then she bade herself good-bye.
—J.G.

(v.) a concept used by those who feel imposter syndrome at growing up & taking charge of their own lives.
a consequence of the lack of spirited maturity traditions in a particular culture & context.

(also: maturity tradition)
(also: coming of age ritual)

(also: imposter syndrome)
(also: discomfort)
(also: doubt)

(n.) one who sees to the care and cleanliness of a building. the keeper of hidden broom, wielder of the sawdust of arnor. into his boiler room, you shall not pass.

Stupidity militant. The activity of a clouded intellect.
(also: Stupid)
(also: rascal)
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

The common battle cry of the American Hillbilly. It is typically proceeded by a challenge or a wager. Then a display of superiority followed by the death of the challenged. Though it is usually an epic display, the countless lives lost has some officials thinking of banning it.

A military gentleman with a field-marshal's baton in his knapsack and an impediment in his hope.

(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

(n.) a way of saying "distinguishing characteristics," when you feel that just saying "distinguishing characteristics" just wouldn't cut it

"hey, this has all the indicia of a run on the banks, george!"

(adj.) coming from the origin, and remaining connected to it; perhaps transformed, but never warped nor mutilated.
many people of the modern first world live their lives carrying (and burdened by) the mistaken idea that to be original means something has to be new: artists. teenagers. but that's simply not what original means, in its true spirit!
and I do say burdened because it can weigh heavy if you want to be original and leave an original legacy. and it will feel like an impossible task.
release that ego weight.



it's about being true, not about being new.

(also: nothing new under the sun)
(also: a little love is not so bad)

also called "galactic basic" or the common tongue of westeros.

language originating in england, where it began as a variant of german before receiving some slapdash latin/french seasoning, resulting in a linguistic abomination. having spread to most of america and australia, it has become one of the more unavoidable languages on the planet.

(n.) a great big pretty boat with sails and navigation tools and a cargo hold and cabins where unspeakable things happen.