REVOLUTION, n. In politics, an abrupt change in the form of misgovernment. . . . the substitution of the rule of an Administration for that of a Ministry, whereby the welfare and happiness of the people were advanced a full half-inch.

Cribbage, n. A substitute for conversation among those to whom nature has denied ideas.

POVERTY, n. A file provided for the teeth of the rats of reform. Its victims are distinguished by possession of all the virtues and by their faith in leaders seeking to conduct them into a prosperity where they believe these to be unknown.

TZETZE (or TSETSE) FLY, n. An African insect ("Glossina morsitans") whose bite is commonly regarded as nature's most efficacious remedy for insomnia, though some patients prefer that of the American novelist ("Mendax interminabilis").

TRICHINOSIS, n. The pig's reply to proponents of porcophagy.

War: A by-product of the arts of peace.

Bacchus, n.: A convenient deity invented by the ancients as an excuse for getting drunk.