EXILE, n. One who serves his country by residing abroad, yet is not
an ambassador.
An English sea-captain being asked if he had read "The Exile of
Erin," replied: "No, sir, but I should like to anchor on it." Years
afterwards, when he had been hanged as a pirate after a career of
unparalleled atrocities, the following memorandum was found in the
ship's log that he had kept at the time of his reply:
Aug. 3d, 1842. Made a joke on the ex-Isle of Erin. Coldly
received. War with the whole world!
-- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"
an ambassador.
An English sea-captain being asked if he had read "The Exile of
Erin," replied: "No, sir, but I should like to anchor on it." Years
afterwards, when he had been hanged as a pirate after a career of
unparalleled atrocities, the following memorandum was found in the
ship's log that he had kept at the time of his reply:
Aug. 3d, 1842. Made a joke on the ex-Isle of Erin. Coldly
received. War with the whole world!
-- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"
Related:
- There came to the beach a poor exile of Erin,
The dew on his thin robe was heavy and chill;
For his country he sigh'd, when at twilight repairing... - An apt and true reply was given to Alexander the Great by a pirate who had
been seized.
For when that king had asked the man what he meant... - WAR, n. A by-product of the arts of peace. The most menacing
political condition is a period of international amity.
The student of history who has not been taught to expect... - HADES, n. The lower world; the residence of departed spirits;
the place where the dead live. Among the ancients... - MEDAL, n. A small metal disk given as a reward for virtues,
attainments or services more or less authentic. ... - ULTIMATUM, n. In diplomacy, a last demand before resorting to
concessions.
Having received an ultimatum from Austria, the Turkish... - SERIAL, n. A literary work, usually a story that is not true,
creeping through several issues of a newspaper or magazine... - FAIRY, n. A creature, variously fashioned and endowed,
that formerly inhabited the meadows and forests. It... - WASHINGTONIAN, n. A Potomac tribesman who exchanged the privilege of
governing himself for the advantage of good government.
In justice to him it should be said that he did not...
From the same category:
- A person is just as big as the thing that makes him
angry... - Amiga.
Because a man can never have too many tasks... - A thousand years scarce serve to form a state:
An hour may lay it in the dust.
Lord Byron (1788-1824) -- Childe Harold's Pilgrimage... - ARENA, n. In politics, an imaginary rat-pit in which the statesman
wrestles with his record.
Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's... - For a crime this outrageous,
we sentence you to two weeks of Barney...
