(n.) an online fashion shop platform, or short for depopulation. take your pick.

separated from one's base instincts by a step of indirection.

A lowly virtue whereby mediocrity achieves an inglorious success.

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"Persevere, persevere!" cry the homilists all,
Themselves, day and night, persevering to bawl.
"Remember the fable of tortoise and hare —
The one at the goal while the other is — where?"
Why, back there in Dreamland, renewing his lease
Of life, all his muscles preserving the peace,
The goal and the rival forgotten alike,
And the long fatigue of the needless hike.
His spirit a-squat in the grass and the dew
Of the dogless Land beyond the Stew,
He sleeps, like a saint in a holy place,
A winner of all that is good in a race.
—Sukker Uffro

That which exists, as distinguished from that which merely seems to exist, the latter being a phenomenon. The noumenon is a bit difficult to locate; it can be apprehended only by a process of reasoning — which is a phenomenon. Nevertheless, the discovery and exposition of noumena offer a rich field for what Lewes calls "the endless variety and excitement of philosophic thought." Hurrah (therefore) for the noumenon!

(n.) one of those tiny countries that's basically just a bunch of banks and casinos that declared independence to get out of paying taxes

n. The day of good deeds and a reformed life. The beginning of happiness

(also: tomorrow) when we get to it
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

(adjective): A word used to express insincerity or sarcasm when something is actually terrible. A go-to for office small talk and passive-aggressive compliments.

(n.) the extremities on the end of one's hand, usually existing in bunches of four plus an additional one who sort of does his own thing (the thumb). if your brain is working correctly you can make them curl up in order to grab things.

for the obscene hand gesture, see the finger. for the fillets of breaded chicken meat, see chicken finger. for the first really good james bond movie, see goldfinger. for other things called fingers go somewhere else. leave me alone.

(v.) to leave a place (physical, emotional, or so on) that had trapped you.
(n.) the place beyond the boundaries of the trap, whether you see from a distance or once you have succeeded.

gianello della torre (1500 – 1585) was a renaissance-era inventor who made his home in spain (where his name is best known) and could have been as famous as his contemporary leonardo da vinci, if people's brains were capable of storing the names of more than one renaissance-era inventor

does not have a ninja turtle named after him

(n.) if you gotta push some papers around, ok, sure; but if something awful happens on your watch, don't pass it off with the excuse of "I was just doing my job". you are still instilled with the gift and the responsibility to stay aware of your surroundings, your actions and consequences, and to stay connected with your soul.
https://medium.com/the-retrospective/hannah-arendt-on-the-banality-of-evil-4e75fd840c68

(also: bullshit jobs)
the harms of (also: balkanization)
the harms of (also: decontextualization)

v.t. To grease a king or other great functionary already sufficiently slippery.

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As sovereigns are anointed by the priesthood,
So pigs to lead the populace are greased good.
—Judibras

(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

(n.) a special notice intended to take advantage of those who lack free will

n. A country lying in the South Sea, whose industrial and commercial development has been unspeakably retarded by an unfortunate dispute among geographers as to whether it is a continent or an island.


(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

(n.) Shaping and then baking clay at a high temperature to create hard containers, and Link's mortal enemy.
(also: poetry)

To speak quietly enough so as not to be heard, yet loudly enough so as to make the people on the adjacent table aware they are being complained about.

Not to be confused with "shoomble", which refers to black markets exclusively trading in niche items.

Ex. "I swear they stole our wine menus," she shumbled from Table 7. "I'm going to steal them back when they're not looking."
"I swear they stole our wine menus," he shumbled from Table 5. "That's why I stole them back when they weren't looking."
"Fools", shumbled the waiter from the foyer. "With all these wine menus, I could start a shoomble."

(584 CE – 644 CE) Powerful Muslim Caliphate and senior companion of Muhammad. An influential figure in Sunni Islam.
(also: 100 most influential people in the world)
(also: umar ibn al-khattab quotes)

n. The period of a thousand years when the lid is to be screwed down, with all reformers on the under side.
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

n. One engaged in a commercial pursuit. A commercial pursuit is one in which the thing pursued is a dollar.

(also: the devil's dictionary)

To renounce an honor for an advantage. To renounce an advantage for a greater advantage.

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'Twas rumored Leonard Wood had signed
A true renunciation
Of title, rank and every kind
Of military station —
Each honorable station.

By his example fired — inclined
To noble emulation,
The country humbly was resigned
To Leonard's resignation —
His Christian resignation.
—Politian Greame
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)