English language -- Dictionaries -- Humor; English language -- Semantics -- Humor; Vocabulary -- Humor
EDITOR, n. A person who combines the judicial functions of Minos,
Rhadamanthus and Æacus, but is placable with an obolus; a severely
virtuous censor, but so charitable withal that he tolerates the virtues
of others and the vices of himself; who flings about him the splintering
lightning and sturdy thunders of admonition till he resembles a bunch
of firecrackers petulantly uttering its mind at the tail of a dog;
then straightway murmurs a mild, melodious lay, soft as the cooing of a
donkey intoning its prayer to the evening star. Master of mysteries
and lord of law, high-pinnacled upon the throne of thought, his face
suffused with the dim Splendors of the Transfiguration, his legs
intertwisted and his tongue a-cheek, the editor spills his will along
the paper and cuts it off in lengths to suit. And at intervals from
behind the veil of the temple is heard the voice of the foreman
demanding three inches of wit and six lines of religious meditation, or
bidding him turn off the wisdom and whack up some pathos.
O, the Lord of Law on the Throne of Thought,
A gilded impostor is he.
Of shreds and patches his robes are wrought,
His crown is brass,
Himself is an ass,
And his power is fiddle-dee-dee.
Prankily, crankily prating of naught,
Silly old quilly old Monarch of Thought.
Public opinion's camp-follower he,
Thundering, blundering, plundering free.
Affected,
Ungracious,
Detected,
Mendacious,
Respected contemporaree!
J. H. Bumbleshook,
EDUCATION, n. That which discloses to the wise and disguises from the
foolish their lack of understanding.
EFFECT, n. The second of two phenomena which always occur together
in the same order. The first, called a Cause, is said to generate the
other-- which is no more sensible than it would be for one who has never
seen a dog except in pursuit of a rabbit to declare the rabbit the cause
of the dog.
EGOTIST, n. A person of low taste, more interested in himself than in
me.
Megaceph, chosen to serve the State
In the halls of legislative debate,
One day with all his credentials came
To the capitol's door and announced his name.
The doorkeeper looked, with a comical twist
Of the face, at the eminent egotist,
And said: "Go away, for we settle here
All manner of questions, knotty and queer,
And we cannot have, when the speaker demands
To be told how every member stands,
A man who to all things under the sky
Assents by eternally voting 'I'."
EJECTION, n. An approved remedy for the disease of garrulity. It is also
much used in cases of extreme poverty.
ELECTOR, n. One who enjoys the sacred privilege of voting for the man of
another man's choice.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account