Ambrose Bierce Trivia

1. "Birth (noun): The first and direst of all __________." What is the missing word?

From Quiz Bierce's "The Devil's Dictionary"

Answer: Disasters

The quote continues: "As to the nature of it there appears to be no uniformity. Castor and Pollux were born from the egg. Pallas came out of a skull. Galatea was once a block of stone. Peresilis, who wrote in the tenth century, avers that he grew up out of the ground where a priest had spilled holy water. It is known that Arimaxus was derived from a hole in the earth, made by a stroke of lightning. Leucomedon was the son of a cavern in Mount Aetna, and I have myself seen a man come out of a wine cellar." Very classical. As far as is known, Ambrose Bierce was born in a more conventional way in Ohio during 1842. He was the tenth of thirteen children, all of whom had first names beginning with the letter 'A'. His father built up a collection of books which gave Ambrose his foundation in literature.

From Quiz Ambrose Bierce's "The Devil's Dictionary"

Answer: sausage

Much like the American political process. Ambrose Bierce was a contemporary of Mark Twain, and his sardonic wit reflects that of Twain....and in some ways, setting the stage for others like Will Rogers.

From Quiz A Horseman in the Sky

Answer: He was asleep on duty.

"He was asleep at his post of duty. But if detected, he would be dead shortly afterward, death being the just and legal penalty of his crime." Wow, that is strict!

From Quiz The Boarded Window

Answer: Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati borders the Ohio River and is a beautiful city with a rich history of riverboat industry. Castle Rock is, of course, a fictional town featured in Stephen King stories.

From Quiz "Devil's Dictionary" definitions

Answer: Happiness

This definition gives you a taste of the others. Not very comfortable, is he? Bierce died in 1913. Or did he? He went to Mexico that year (at the age of 71!) to fight alongside Pancho Villa. No-one actually knows what happened to him. It's nice to think that he just lives on somewhere, looking cynically over our oh-so-civilised shoulders and, in the manner of the above definition, sneering.

From Quiz The Devil's Dictionary

Answer: Dictionary

Date: {1526;} Etymology: Medieval Latin dictionarium, from Late Latin diction-, dictio word, from Latin, speaking. He didn't think much of dictionaries, except of course his own.

From Quiz Bierce's "The Devil's Dictionary"

Answer: Ignorance

Quite a few others have provided a definition for 'learning'. Along the same lines perhaps, Albert Einstein is noted for saying: "The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education." Schooled in Indiana, Bierce left home in 1857 at the age of fifteen to start work as an apprentice printer for the anti-slavery newspaper 'Northern Indianan'. His writing career did not start until after his wartime experiences.

From Quiz Ambrose Bierce's "The Devil's Dictionary"

Answer: often

Deja vu need not apply. Bierce had a long career in journalism, starting as a teenaged printer's assistant for an Indiana newspaper.

From Quiz A Horseman in the Sky

Answer: He was a sentry.

He was a lone sentry, guarding five Union regiments which were resting in the woods below. They were planning an attack on a nearby camp of Confederate soldiers for the following day.

From Quiz The Boarded Window

Answer: It is not known.

"There is no known record of her name." Hopefully, no one guessed "June Cleaver".

From Quiz "Devil's Dictionary" definitions

Answer: Presidency

Political corruption was one of Bierce's hobby-horses, probably because, unlike today's state of affairs, contemporary political conditions in North America invited such treatment from a satirist. Here's a sample, from his "Fantastic Fables": A Boss who had gone to Canada was taunted by a Citizen of Montreal with having fled to avoid prosecution. 'You do me a grave injustice,' said the Boss, parting with a pair of tears. 'I came to Canada solely because of its political attractions; its Government is the most corrupt in the world.' 'Pray forgive me,' said the Citizen of Montreal. They fell upon each other's neck, and at the conclusion of that touching rite the Boss had two watches.

From Quiz The Devil's Dictionary

Answer: Economy

Etymology: Middle French yconomie, from Medieval Latin oeconomia, from Greek oikonomia, from oikonomos household manager, from oikos house + nemein to manage.

From Quiz Bierce's "The Devil's Dictionary"

Answer: Boundaries

This suggests that Bierce saw war as an instrument for territorial acquisition. His own wartime experiences had a strong influence in his writings and resulted in a number of short stories such as "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge". This was first put on celluloid in the 1929 silent film "The Bridge". With the start of the American Civil War, Bierce enlisted in the Union army. He was involved in numerous engagements including the Battles of Rich Mountain (1861), of Shiloh (1862), of Chickamauga (1863) and of Kennesaw Mountain (1864). He received a serious head wound at this last battle.

From Quiz Ambrose Bierce's "The Devil's Dictionary"

Answer: envy

Political correctness ahead of its time. Ambrose joined the Union Army at the start of the Civil War. Wounded in action in 1864, he recovered and transferred to San Francisco.

From Quiz A Horseman in the Sky

Answer: "Well, go sir, and whatever may occur do what you conceive to be your duty."

His father was actually against the idea and said that they would talk more about it if they both survived until the end of the war.

From Quiz The Boarded Window

Answer: There were no physicians or neighbors within miles.

Also, he thought she was too sick to be left alone and it would have taken him days to find help.

From Quiz "Devil's Dictionary" definitions

Answer: Yesterday

He supplies this poem to further elucidate: "But yesterday I should have thought me blest To stand high-pinnacled upon the peak Of middle life and look adown the bleak And unfamiliar foreslope to the West, Where solemn shadows all the land invest And stilly voices, half-remembered, speak Unfinished prophecy, and witch-fires freak The haunted twilight of the Dark of Rest. Yea, yesterday my soul was all aflame To stay the shadow on the dial's face At manhood's noonmark! Now, in God His name I chide aloud the little interspace Disparting me from Certitude, and fain Would know the dream and vision ne'er again. Baruch Arnegriff It is said that in his last illness the poet Arnegriff was attended at different times by seven doctors." This is about as whimsical and elegiac as Bierce gets. There, did you enjoy it? Now put your hankies away again....

From Quiz The Devil's Dictionary

Answer: Adder

Etymology: Middle English, from an addre, alteration of a naddre, a snake, from Old English ndre, snake.

From Quiz Bierce's "The Devil's Dictionary"

Answer: Salt

Through his journalistic writings, Bierce gained a reputation as 'the wickedest man in San Francisco' for his damning observations and caustic wit. After leaving the army Bierce started writing as a journalist in San Francisco. He wrote for a number of publications including 'The San Francisco News Letter'. The origins of "The Devil's Dictionary" can be traced to his involvement with this paper.

From Quiz Ambrose Bierce's "The Devil's Dictionary"

Answer: additions

"Never let the facts get in the way of a good story" -- Mark Twain Bierce married while in San Francisco, and wrote for a variety of publications.

From Quiz The Boarded Window

Answer: an eerie wailing sound

It was a "long wailing sound, like the cry of a lost child". How creepy is that?

From Quiz "Devil's Dictionary" definitions

Answer: Gunpowder

Compare his definition of "cannon": "An instrument employed in the rectification of national boundaries".

From Quiz The Devil's Dictionary

Answer: Wordsworth

Coming from 14th century meaning 1) early {childhood;} 2) a beginning or early period of {existence;} 3) the legal status of an infant.

From Quiz Bierce's "The Devil's Dictionary"

Answer: Detected offenders

Bierce seems to have had a fairly cynical view of relationships. This may have reflected his own marriage break-down. He separated from his wife in 1888 when he discovered compromising letters to her from an admirer. Some more of his definitions: "Husband (n): One who, having dined, is charged with the care of the plate" and "Marriage (n): The state or condition of a community consisting of a master, a mistress and two slaves, making in all, two." Bierce and his wife Mollie Day moved to England in 1872 for three years where his writing earned him the nickname of 'Bitter Bierce'. He wrote for the 'Fun' magazine (a competitor of 'Punch' magazine) and published several books under the pseudonym of Dod Grile. His three children were also born during this time. He returned to San Francisco in 1875 hoping to pick up where he left off.

From Quiz Ambrose Bierce's "The Devil's Dictionary"

Answer: selfishness

Mother Teresa, please forgive us. Bierce and family travelled to England from 1872-1875, and then returned to San Francisco. In 1875, he submitted his first comic word definitions, initially called "The Demon's Dictionary."

From Quiz A Horseman in the Sky

Answer: Druse was terrified.

"Carter Druse grew pale; he shook in every limb. This courageous gentleman and hardy soldier was near swooning from intensity of emotion."

From Quiz "Devil's Dictionary" definitions

Answer: Once

Compare his definition of "more": "The comparative degree of 'too much'".

From Quiz The Devil's Dictionary

Answer: Convent

From 13th century. Etymology Middle English convent, from Old French, from Medieval Latin conventus, from Latin, assembly, from convenire.

From Quiz Bierce's "The Devil's Dictionary"

Answer: To go fishing

Bierce did not think much of politicians and public officials. Here is his definition of 'politics': "A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage." Back in USA he ended up working for the "San Francisco Examiner". An example of his journalism comes from when the first transcontinental railway was being built with Government loans under generous terms. The railway companies sought to have Congress quietly pass a bill excusing them from repayment. Bierce was despatched to report on the matter. When one of the railway owners tried to bribe him, he published his answer in the newspaper. The bill failed.

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